Product Review / Digital Tools

I am not one to use this space to review tools for use in an education setting, however, I am receiving more and more emails from teachers in the field, asking me to "Please recommend a tool I can use with year 9 students" or "have I seen the latest..." etc., etc. So this Blog update is dedicated to tips and tricks with digital tools.

Pause for a sec....

Having been spouting the belief for some time that schools/ teachers should follow a model to extend just replacing paper and pen and actually use the tools to extend student thinking, reasoning and skill level. I would suggest before you go experimenting, that you hold in your mind the question "How can I utilise this tool using SAMR?" (Substitution, Augmentation, Modification & Redefinition).

Here is an example of how it could be used.....

Substitution

In a substitution level, teachers or students are only using new technology tools to replace old ones, for instance, using Google Docs to replace Microsoft Word. the task ( writing) is the same but the tools are different.

Augmentation
Though it is a different level, but we are still in the substitution mentality but this time with added functionalities. Again using the example of Google docs, instead of only writing a document and having to manually save it and share it with others, Google Docs provides extra services like auto saving, auto syncing, and auto sharing in the cloud.

Modification
This is the level where technology is being used more effectively not to do the same task using different tools but to redesign new parts of the task and transform students learning. An example of this is using the commenting service in Google Docs, for instance, to collaborate and share feedback on a given task task.

Redefinition
If you are to place this level in Blooms revised taxonomy pyramid, it would probably correspond to synthesis and evaluation as being the highest order thinking skills.  Redefinition means that students use technology to create imperceptibly new tasks. As is shown in the video below an example of redefinition is "when students connect to a classroom across the world where they would each write a narrative of the same historical event using the chat and comment section to discuss the differences, and they  use the voice comments to discuss the differences they noticed and then embed this in the class website".

Tips & Tricks

The following tools have been recomended by Steve up in Kerikeri as worth a look. TinkerCAD and OnShape.  

"They seem better than ProDesktop in terms of ease of use and are both free to use. TinkerCAD looks quite simple when you first use it but it is much more powerful than you think."

https://www.tinkercad.com/

https://www.onshape.com/

I had an email also about the new development in Carbon liquid 3d Printing, which looks incredible. Check it out here.

Last but not least: Steve has asked for some collaborative teamwork 

"Have you heard anything about what is happening with quad copters. Have a look at the price you can build one for now with FPV
http://www.modifiedrc.com/miniquads-how-can-i-get-flying-on-the-cheap/ We are starting a club up at school and I need other schools to race against." anyone keen........