Classroom tools

Walter Bender walter at laptop.org
Mon Jan 14 20:21:03 EST 2008 

There was a nice project done in Chile using Ipacks: the "teacher"
would pose a problem and the children would formulate an answer. Then
they'd gather in groups of four and pool their answers. Each group of
four would then reach consensus on an answer they thought was correct.
All of the group answers would be shared with the entire class. Then a
class discussion would ensue: why did Group A come up with that
answer? The role of the computer and the teacher was to facilitate the
discussion among the students and to focus discussion around problem
areas that revealed themselves in discussion. A nice use of
collaboration that has nothing to do with taking control or "all eyes
forward".

-walter

2008/1/14 Wade Brainerd <wadetb at gmail.com>:
> Actually I think you're assuming (incorrectly) that the text matching
> feature is the only way questions are graded in my (hypothetical) activity
> :)
>
> In the description, the teacher has the ability to override whether or not
> the answer is correct or partially correct before it is reported to the
> student.  The text matching is simply a convenience to reduce the tedium on
> the part of the teacher.
>
> I agree that it doesn't cover more exotic paradigms like self grading on the
> part of the student.  Further, it doesn't allow the student to submit a
> drawing with their answer.  But it was just a 3 paragraph idea...
>
> Best,
>
> Wade
>
>
>
> On Jan 14, 2008 3:24 PM, Edward Cherlin <echerlin at gmail.com> wrote:
> > 2008/1/14 Wade Brainerd <wadetb at gmail.com>:
> >
> > > Yeah, I was thinking along these lines with the Pop Quiz activity.
> > >
> > > The teacher (the activity initiator) gets a screen showing a box for a
> > > question, a box for the answer, and a box for every student that is
> sharing
> > > the activity.
> > >
> > > She types in a question, it is posed to the children, they type in their
> > > answers.  When done, she types in her answer, which is delivered to the
> > > students, and their boxes are marked correct or incorrect on her screen.
> >
> > You are making important assumptions here. The first is that the
> > teacher is only asking questions that have right answers. The second
> > is that the "right" answer is actually correct. This is frequently not
> > the case, particularly outside the realms of math and physics. But
> > even in math, teachers and textbooks frequently give incorrect
> > information. The notion that you can't add apples and oranges, for
> > example. This is what algebra is *for*. It is true that when you add
> > apples and oranges, you don't get a total that is all one or the
> > other, but to claim that you just can't do it is simply insane.
> > According to Richard Feynman, the books used in the Los Angeles
> > Unified School District in his day were appalling, and I don't know of
> > any reason to suppose that any others are any better, except the few
> > written by serious mathematicians like Ken Iverson.
> >
> > I am interested in the case where the teacher asks an open-ended
> > question for the children to explore in some manner. I am also
> > interested in other cases, such as the original "out of the box"
> > puzzle, which asks for the minimum number of connected straight lines
> > that can be drawn to cover nine dots in a 3 x 3 square. Five is
> > trivial; four is the classic "outside the box" solution; children have
> > discovered solutions in three lines and one line.
> >
> > "It is nothing short of a miracle that modern methods of instruction
> > have not yet entirely strangled the holy curiousity of
> > inquiry."--Albert Einstein
> >
> > "The world we have made, as a result of the level of thinking we have
> > done thus far, creates problems we cannot solve at the same level of
> > thinking at which we created them."--Albert Einstein
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > >At
> > > this point she can manually adjust correct/incorrect/partially correct
> > > answers for individual students.  Then she clicks the Next button, and
> the
> > > interface is reset for the next question.
> > >
> > > The students see a vertically scrolling list of question/answer pairs
> with a
> > > current correct and incorrect count at the bottom. When the teacher's
> > > question is posed, they will see the question followed by an input box
> to
> > > enter their answer.
> > >
> > > This would be a massive improvement over the standard "write test,
> photocopy
> > > test, pass out test, receive test, grade test" system as the questions
> could
> > > be adjusted in realtime based on how well the class is doing.
> > >
> > > This should be implementable using the current activity interface,
> right?
> > > It just means that the initiator of the activity receives a different
> > > interface than the participants, which is easy to do.
> > >
> > > Regards,
> > >
> > > Wade
> > >
> > > 2008/1/14 <david at lang.hm>:
> > >
> > >
> > > >
> > > > On Mon, 14 Jan 2008, Wade Brainerd wrote:
> > > >
> > > > > My mother-in-law is an 8th grade teacher in Nobleboro, ME.  Maine
> has
> > > had an
> > > > > Apple laptop program for the past few years in which all 8th graders
> > > receive
> > > > > personal iBooks that they can take home with them.
> > > > >
> > > > > She has a feature where she can silently watch a single student's
> screen
> > > at
> > > > > a time via a VNC connection (a simplified Apple Remote Desktop). She
> > > uses it
> > > > > when kids look distracted, and simply calls across the room to ask
> them
> > > if
> > > > > what they're doing is "appropriate" after checking out their screen.
> > > Plus,
> > > > > the child's knowledge that they *can* be watched at any time is
> > > generally
> > > > > enough to prevent them from doing anything really bad during class
> time.
> > > > >
> > > > > A secure remote screenshot utility should be considered essential
> for
> > > > > teachers to maintain control of their classrooms (IMO).  A "TV wall"
> > > view
> > > > > showing a number of kids screens would be even better.  I'm not sure
> if
> > > > > remote control is needed, as this would be a much greater security
> risk.
> > > > >
> > > > > I'm not an educator, but I think the idea of a room full of kids
> looking
> > > > > down at their screens waiting to be "called on" virtually seems a
> little
> > > > > strange when you can just look up and talk.
> > > >
> > > > I think the thought is to replace the useual situation where the
> teacher
> > > > asks a question and then calls on a single student to answer with one
> > > > where the teacher asks a question and then everyone provides an
> answer,
> > > > and the teacher then picks an answer to proceed with.
> > > >
> > > > David Lang
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > > Perhaps if you guys are
> > > > > thinking about much larger classrooms and/or remote education it
> would
> > > be
> > > > > worthwhile, but these things can be accomplished through chat as
> well.
> > > The
> > > > > question / answer idea does seem useful though, perhaps a Pop Quiz
> > > activity
> > > > > where the teacher's instance shows a different interface from the
> > > student.
> > > > >
> > > > > BTW, if you haven't already, I think it's absolutely worth studying
> > > these
> > > > > existing US programs to determine how a classroom is run with this
> kind
> > > of
> > > > > technology present before designing systems around usage patterns.
> If
> > > you
> > > > > would like to talk with her (or other teachers) I'd be happy to try
> and
> > > set
> > > > > something up!
> > > > >
> > > > > Best regards,
> > > > >
> > > > > -Wade
> > > > >
> > > > > 2008/1/14 Jameson Chema Quinn < jquinn at cs.oberlin.edu>:
> > > > >
> > > > >> The idea of activity sharing supports several important forms of
> > > classroom
> > > > >> interaction, and can be stretched to accommodate many more. However
> the
> > > > >> focus on constructionism means there's a lack of support for
> > > teacher-centric
> > > > >> interactions, even ones which are useful in constructionist
> learning.
> > > Raising
> > > > >> hands
> > > > >>
> > > > >> The fundamental model that's missing is the idea of questions or
> > > > >> assignments, posed by the teacher and answered separately by each
> > > student or
> > > > >> team of students. It is possible to accomplish this 'manually', but
> the
> > > > >> technical shuffling makes it impractical to do so in a real-time,
> > > classroom
> > > > >> situation, especially if it is desirable to keep data for later.
> > > > >>
> > > > >> For instance, I as a teacher want to be able to pose a question and
> > > have
> > > > >> each student individually type a response. I could see, and record
> for
> > > > >> later, who responded what and who didn't respond. After giving a
> brief
> > > > >> interval, I could 'call on' a student either by my choice or
> randomly,
> > > and
> > > > >> continue the discussion based on their answer. There are several
> > > obvious
> > > > >> variations on this pattern - for instance, instead of typing a
> complete
> > > > >> answer they could just indicate whether they have an answer, ie,
> 'raise
> > > > >> their hands'; teams could present shared answers; etc. The software
> > > would
> > > > >> help the teacher to keep track of each student's participation and
> to
> > > 'call
> > > > >> on' students in a systematic manner.
> > > > >>
> > > > >> This type of interaction is so fundamental that it would be great
> to
> > > have
> > > > >> it available independent of the currently shared activity. The
> obvious
> > > place
> > > > >> to put it, therefore, would be in the bulletin board. This means
> the
> > > > >> bulletin board would have to have some support for active logic.
> There
> > > are 3
> > > > >> ways to do this that I can see: somehow using AJAX for the bulletin
> > > board
> > > > >> (advantages: highly flexible, tools exist; disadvantages: memory
> and
> > > > >> processor hog, needs some server technology on the teacher's side);
> > > > >> hard-coding this one case into the bulletin board (advantage: can
> be
> > > > >> optimized better; disadvantage: inflexible); or somehow making a
> plugin
> > > > >> system for the bulletin board (advantage: flexible; disadvantage:
> > > security
> > > > >> issues, the world doesn't need yet another plugin architecture)
> > > > >>
> > > > >> (One disadvantage of using the bulletin board is that it could
> > > perpetuate
> > > > >> the UI chasm between on-line and off-line communication. In-class
> > > questions
> > > > >> are no more then small versions of out-of-class assignments, and
> the
> > > > >> interface should be as similar as possible. But that is a bigger
> > > problem,
> > > > >> one which permeates the XO, and deserves a separate discussion.)
> > > > >>
> > > > >> Homnq < http://wiki.laptop.org/go/User:Homunq > 08:12, 14 January
> 2008
> > > (EST)
> > > > >>
> > > > >>
> > > [edit<
> http://wiki.laptop.org/index.php?title=Software_ideas&action=edit&section=16
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > >> ] Classroom management
> > > > >>
> > > > >> Motivation and interest are the best ways to achieve engagement,
> but
> > > > >> social pressure and good examples are also a part of the picture,
> and
> > > these
> > > > >> are impossible without transparency. If there is no easy way for
> > > teachers
> > > > >> (or, for that matter, other students) to tell the difference
> between a
> > > > >> student who is working on the laptop, and one who is playing DOOM,
> bad
> > > > >> things happen.
> > > > >>
> > > > >> Intel/Microsoft's "Classmate" competitor is rumored to have tools
> for
> > > the
> > > > >> teacher to freeze or take over the student's laptop, "to guide them
> > > through
> > > > >> the interface". Regardless of whether this is a desirable
> relationship,
> > > it
> > > > >> would be hard to accomplish within the security model and memory
> > > constraints
> > > > >> of the XO.
> > > > >>
> > > > >> However, it would be good to have tools for all members of a shared
> > > > >> activity to see the current state and recent history of all other
> > > current
> > > > >> members. This protects privacy (after all, you can just quit the
> shared
> > > > >> activity for privacy) while creating transparency. For it to be
> useful,
> > > it
> > > > >> has to be simple and fast. Useful things to see are which
> activities
> > > have
> > > > >> been used, and whether out-of-band communication has happened, over
> the
> > > last
> > > > >> minute.
> > > > >>
> > > > >> _______________________________________________
> > > > >> Devel mailing list
> > > > >> Devel at lists.laptop.org
> > > > >> http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/devel
> > > > >>
> > > > >>
> > > > >
> > > > _______________________________________________
> > > >
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> > > >
> > > >
> > >
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________
> >
> >
> >
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> > >
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Edward Cherlin
> > Earth Treasury: End Poverty at a Profit
> > http://www.EarthTreasury.org/
> > "The best way to predict the future is to invent it."--Alan Kay
> >
>
>
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-- 
Walter Bender
One Laptop per Child
http://laptop.org

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