Author Biography: My name is Ann S. Michaelsen and Im an administrator at Sandvika vgs, a high school in Norway.

Sandvika is a new high school that started in 2006 and we have since the beginning been a 1:1 school. All our classrooms have projectors and speakers and our block scheduling facilitates the use of social networking and Web 2.0 tools in our teaching. Our school was Norways Pathfinder school in Microsofts innovative school program in 2010 and we attended the world forum in Salvador Brazil that year. In 2011 I was invited to speak at the Microsoft World event in South Africa. My main responsibility as an administrator is to facilitate the use of ICT for both teachers and students in class. I believe it is important to teach the students how to use social media to build a personal learning network and to connect with learners in different parts of the world. I believe digital footprints and understanding who to trust and where to find material is vital in this pursuit. I have a webpage called Teaching English using Web 2.0 and I am one of the writers on Voices of the Learning revolution. Activity Summary
Keeping students engaged in a 1:1 environment. With all the tempting distractions available online, how do you know the students are on task at all time? If we are going to help our students develop the focus they need to think deeply about things. How do you spend your time online, where do you search for information, and are you able to turn off the distractions? In the end of the chapter I will provide examples and instructions to use in class. The last activity is based on how teachers can start working with social media and connect with other educators. Class or subject area: Classroom Management Grade level(s): High school and middle school students Specific learning objectives: How to engage students in a 1:1 environment, how to teach students to set specific goals. How block scheduling ties in nicely with 21st century skills How to set up a connected classroom with examples from other educators.

Anniversary Book Project

5th

Keeping students engaged in a 1:1 environment

By: Ann Michaelsen Creative Commons License: CC BY-SA Author contact: @annmic

Have you ever sat down in front of your computer, expecting a lot of work to be done in a certain amount of time, only to find that you have done nothing work-related at all? Or that youve done a lot just not what you planned to do? Many people are thinking about the way we spend our time and what gets our attention in this digital age. Howard Rheingold calls it infotention and Ive been learning a lot about it thanks to his challenging but rewarding online course, Introduction to Mind Amplifiers. Its a five-week experience using asynchronous forums, blogs, wikis, mindmaps, social bookmarks, synchronous audio, video, chat, and Twitter. Participation requires a serious commitment of time and attention by every member of the learning group. Believe me, the skill of staying focused on what is important certainly proves to be helpful here! What are the implications for our students? If highly educated professionals are having problems staying focused on long pieces of writing, what about students? More and more schools are going 1:1, equipping students with personal computing devices without equipping their teachers with research-based pedagogy to support its use. It is like Clayton M. Christensen says in his book Disrupting Class: we cant go on teaching, assuming all students should be taught the same things on the same day in the same way. When teachers are lecturing, using a PowerPoint for more than 15 minutes, students attention most certainly will be on content they find online! I think it is rather unfair to assume that all teachers automatically know how to deal with these distractions and how to guide their students. I know many teachers struggle with this at my school. The solutions I read about online tend to emphasize strict time limits, interesting tasks and real life problems. I found this recent article from the Harvard Education Letter useful: Teaching students to ask their own questions. But even if we have a school where the core values are: inquiry, research, collaboration, presentation and reflection, (Science Leadership Academy, Philadelphia), if were going to help our students develop the focus they need to think deeply about things to acquire Howard Rheingolds Infotention then I think most schools will need some ground rules, made in collaboration with students after lots of conversations around these important topics. Block scheduling The school where I teach used to be college for business classes and it was rebuilt and opened for students in the year of 2006. Our principal wanted a school suited for teaching 21 century skills and

an extensive use of technology. All our teachers and students were equipped with laptops from the beginning and we have wireless connections in the whole building. We decided to try out block scheduling and set the timetable for the students with no more than 2 subjects each day. That means I teach English every Tuesday from 8:30 to 13:15 in the same class. Im not sure if we knew the implications when we started but it turns out block scheduling and the use of computers is a great match. If you take a closer look at the ISTEs NETS for Students you find the skills and knowledge students need to learn to be able to function effectively and live productively in an increasingly global and digital world. Research & Information, Critical thinking, Digital citizenship, Technology operations, Creativity and innovation, Communication & collaboration

Todays students need to be able to use technology to analyze, learn, and explore. When you have the whole day to work on a specific project/curriculum goal it is a lot easier to achieve these goals. After we started working like this I dont think I will ever be able to go back to the traditional way of many short periods of teaching again. Guidelines for 1:1 schools An interesting observation we did early in the process was that young teachers do not necessarily know how to use technology in class. Even if they are avid users of technology and social media, using it as a tool to enhance students learning is not something they seem to master. Its older, more experienced teachers not younger, so-called digital natives who are experimenting more with new technology in the classroom, a new report suggests. Source: The Globe and Mail. We initiated the following guidelines for our teachers and school leaders, and made sure everyone was onboard with this. 1. The teachers have to be technologically competent and need to know about different websites that can be used in learning 2. When introducing new software in school most teachers need workshops on how to use it 3. The school leaders need to know how to use technology and be in front 4. School leaders and teachers should all participate in the discussions online, read RSS feeds, have Twitter accounts and constantly update their computer skills 5. The school needs a list of need to know about /required skills. These skills should apply to school leaders, teachers and students. Professional development has to be on the agenda all the time. The staff need good examples on how to share files and folder with programs like Dropbox or Skydrive, and know how to write shared notes using Google docs, Ethterpad or OneNote. 6. Students need to be involved in the process and learn about the different ways to work with technology. Contrary to popular belief many students will choose the easy way out if they are not engaged and see the purpose of working with technology. Checking your Facebook account during

class is not working with technology! 7. Teachers have to teach students how to use ICT to learn. Students are skilled ICT users, but need to learn how to connect the dots between social use and using ICT to learn in a school context. 8. There has to be a shift from teacher instructions to student activity, student engagement and student ownership. The shift between the teacher having all the answers to the students asking the right questions, assuming the role of the researcher 9. Teachers need to change how students work with the material, instead of answering questions in a text book answers might be found online in real conversations with students in other countries. Computers should be used as tools, to enhance learning through the use of real world data to solve problems. To incorporate multiple technology-based resource in rich learning activities. Some draft guidelines Here are some possible guidelines or ground rules that come to mind for using computers and staying focused in school. Please add your own thoughts in the comments. A. Make your own rules of student Netiquette. Netiquette (short for network etiquette or Internet etiquette) is a set of social conventions that facilitate interaction over networks, whether through social media, chat, email or other means. 1. Computer lids down when teacher is giving instructions for class. 2. Stay on task, no gaming, Facebook, Twitter, Skype or surfing when not related to school work. 3. Computer lids down when teachers or students are presenting, unless you are taking notes or searching online for more information. B. Teach and discuss how to focus in the age of distraction. 1. 2. 3. 4. Close all other applications and devices when reading texts. Make a mental list of what to do and how much time you have available. Turn off the internet when you dont need it. Leave your phone at home sometimes!

C: Teach and discuss how to find reliable information online. 1. Teach searching skills and introduce safe search engines. 2. Teach and discuss knowing how to ask the right questions and finding the accurate answers. 3. Help students build personal learning networks with people they know they can trust. One way is to introduce blogging and the use of Twitter. Practical application in class Creating Students Survival Guide to the Web One of the best ways to be informed about what is happening in the world of technology and teaching is to write your own blog, to be active on Twitter and to connect using Skype. The blogpost I wrote about infotention led me to this post Keeping students engaged in a 1:1 project based classroom. I often talk to students about how they spend their time at school and if they plan their work. After a

day of block scheduling I ask them; did you spend your time wisely? Did you get the work done? On a scale from 1 -10 they usually hit a 4 or 5 if the teacher isnt paying attention to what they are doing at all times. Here is what I did when my class had the whole day to work on an in-depth project in International English. Lesson plan: 1. Before starting work each student gets sticky notes and starts writing the days goals. One on each note. Examples of goals found below. 2. Teacher sits in the back of the classroom (to be able to see the computer screens). Preferably walk around and talk with students as much as possible. It is easier for the students to ask for help if the teacher asks questions about the project. 3. Students give teacher sticky notes as they progress in their work. See who has the most notes at teachers desk at the end of the work day. 4. Put notes in stacks and pair students with a new partner. Each student reads the others notes and checks that all the goals are met. On a new note they write down the grade for the days work and advice on how to progress. Write down what went well, and what could have been done differently. Could you do more? End the note with at least one encouraging sentence about the project! Example of goals for students: Create an outline of my project Write my introduction Find (number) pictures about Finish (number) slides for my Power Point/Keynote Find at least three database articles on theme use these search engines Draft at least three paragraphs Peer-coach your shoulder partner and give edit so-and-sos essay Other goals for the day Connected educator! A self-explanatory guide for teachers on how to use social media in class Objectives: These activities aim to show you how to use resources found online when planning lessons with students. You should know how to introduce blogging and Twitter in class, and how to make a blog and twitter account. Take the time to explore alternative ways for students to present in class and see how OneNote on SkyDrive can be used as a way to save web pages, essays, projects, grammar and instructions for use during tests, project work and exams. How can educators and students connect on Skype? I have listed some rubrics to use after each activity. And remember if you teach in a 1:1 school to take the time to discuss with your students; how to make sure they are working with content

at all times! The key point is avoiding the danger of distraction. If you have questions or concerns share with other educators and please post here! Pre study activities: 1. Blogging in class, why, answers to some questions you might have 2. Twitter with students. Twitter as part of your PD, Using visible tweets with students, and as a learning tool. Example of use of Twitter: Greys anatomy is a great example o fusing twitter to learn. my OR! 3. Speaker Radio, how to introduce this in class, on air in 60 seconds. 4. Skype in the classroom, how can I find teachers, projects and collections? 5. The world of infotention - how to stay focused on what is important. Keeping students engaged in a 1:1 project based classroom. Teachers need rules too! Lesson plan: 1. Start off by setting up your own blog. Start with Blogger.com, Easy tutorial found here. 2. Create a Twitter account, find out how here. In workshop find 5 educators to follow. 3. Speaker radio create a Live internet Radio Show Free. Talk about the workshop and what you would like to use in class! 4. Skype in the classroom, try to contact educators on Skype education to connect with. 5. Brainstorming to make rules on how to stay focused when working in class, post here! To use in class: 1. Writing better blogposts, how to write a great blog comment. 2. Twitter in class. Some ways to improve your test scores! Twitter in the classroom, Twitter in education. 3. Speaker Radio get going and make a show! Find info here. Magazine and radio, tasks here. 4. See here how teachers connect, how could you find students to connect with? Use a topic from class and make it an international project. 5. Use Wallwisher to brainstorm rules on how to use the computer in class Assessment: 1. Rubric for blogging 2. Rubric for Twitter 3. Rubric for oral presentation, with storyboard. 4. Rubric for collaborating 5. Rubric for staying on task, contributing knowledge, performed all duties and shard skills.