ISTE 2012

I'm at the International Society for Technology in Education conference,  at the San Diego convention center. So far the sessions have been up and down, some really thought - provoking, others just so-so. Right now I'm waiting for the session on flipped classrooms, which seems to be the hot topic here. I just left a session on delivering instruction in blended and fully online classes, which left me with the question: should blended and online classes be part of the same continuum, or should they use separate models? Our district's answer to that will make a huge difference in how we proceed.

Using QR codes

A "QR" code is like a two-dimensional barcode.  It's a machine-readable diagram that represents some information.  In this case, the "machine" is a smartphone with a camera.  There are apps for iPhone and Android that will scan the code and take some action, which is usually to go to some website.  For example, the code here is a URL for a website that I have set up advertising a dog for adoption.  You (or your students) can use a smartphone to scan this QR code and open the encoded website.

The Android app that I use is called "QR Droid".  There are many equivalents for iPhone.  But to create the codes in the first place, I use this website: easyqrcodegenerator.com/free-qr-code-generator.
I've used this with lab instructions for students, with the idea that they could scan the QR code with their phone and then watch a video showing the lab procedure.  You could also use this to easily link to YouTube videos, Khan Academy videos, or anything else that you want the students to see.  Many textbooks at the college level now include QR codes within the text, that link the students to online content.  It's a good way to connect printed paper to online resources.

Classroom response system through text messaging

Last year I tried out Poll Everywhere, a website that lets you set up online polls that can be voted on by text messaging.  I had intended to use it with my Earth Science class for test reviews: I'd put up a multiple-choice question, and students (working in groups) would text their responses.  The website then displays the live response results, and then I could show the correct answer.  It was a way to implement a classroom response system without the hardware investment of buying clickers.

I had two main problems.  One was registration.  Poll Everywhere is offered free for K-12 teachers, for up to 40 students in a class.  The next level up is $50/year, which gets you some advanced features, like recording what answers each kid texts.  I thought that would be useful, and it would have been, except getting my freshmen to sign up, then reply to an email (that was often in their spam folders), was just asking too much.

The other problem was access.  In my classroom at LCC, many students didn't get adequate signal to be able to participate.  Many other had this type of text-response blocked from their service, so they don't run up huge bills voting on American Idol or something like that.  There really weren't enough students in the class that could successfully text in to the system, that I gave it up.

If you can overcome or avoid these problems, though, it's a nice system.  The website is easy to make polls and comes with pretty detailed instructions for teachers and students.

An online course system that's easy to use

Over the last three years, I've been working with the San Diego County Office of Education with their online science courses for teachers in special situations (VPSS).  As part of that project, I have used their Learning Management System (LMS) called Haiku, and I have nothing but good things to say about it.  Haiku is easy to use both for teachers and for students, it has a lot of capabilities, and I think it just might make your life easier if you're trying to teach a blended or flipped class to any degree.  Teachers can sign up for free (limit of 5 classes, 375 kids, 2 GB file storage).  There are higher capacity plans available for a small cost (starting at $5 per month).

I've used Blackboard, and Moodle, and Sakai, and they're fine, but in my experience, Haiku is simpler and better than all of them.  Give it a try at www.haikulearning.com.

Introduction

I've set up this blog to serve as an instructional technology resource for teachers in the San Dieguito Union High School District.  It is my hope that eventually we'll have multiple people posting here, from all different schools, and that we'll have helpful, useful conversations about what has worked and what hasn't worked in our classrooms.  We can post links, research articles, reflections, and questions for others here.