Karl Fisch - Constructivist Teaching with Technology: Learning with Laptops

http://www.lps.k12.co.us/schools/arapahoe/21c/necc2007.html

http://thefischbowl.blogspot.com

http://learningandlaptops.blogspot.com

Arapahoe is a public high school that is piloting a one-to-one laptops. Some classes have laptop carts. Four teachers presented with Karl.

For their pilot group of teachers, staff development meetings are three hours long and are held every three weeks. One hour is spent on theory, one hour is spent on pedagogy, and one hour is spent on technology. Karl quickly shares something technical, and then they look at how it could be used in the classroom. There is good faculty buy-in because this is teachers teaching teachers.

They changed the classroom environment. The goal was to create a professional learning environment . Desks were replaced with tables and rolling chairs. Posters were put up that were interesting to the students. Also, a list of classroom expectations was created by the class, each student signed it and it was put up on the wall.

They are blogging for “reflection, collaboration, critical thinking, and professional purposes to create a school-wide learning community.”

They have students blogging the class while it’s going on. Sometimes the blogging can interfere with student attention.

Skype is better than Blogger.

They are collaborating with classes around the world. Collaboration is not cooperating learning.

The teachers are role models as learners.

Students are producers and consumers of information.

When blogging, students get excited when they get comments from people around the world.

The astronomy teacher’s textbook was outdated when the class received it. The class created it’s own textbook. A wiki was used.

They are using Google docs for 24/7 collaboration by students and teachers.

The review toolbar in Word is a powerful tool for peer editing.