Findings

in Research & Development

International Research Collaborative

May 12, 2013 by · No Comments · 1-to-1 Learning, Research, Shabbi Luthra

At ASB Un-Plugged 2012 we launched an International Research Collaborative (IRC). This is a research partnership among international schools. The IRC is organized into ‘Circles’, each focused on a specific area. We have begun with a 1-to-1 Learning Research Circle. This Circle is made up of schools seeking to more closely examine and evaluate a range of educational technology access, practices, beliefs, and outcomes related to teaching and learning. Over time the research circles of the Collaborative will grow to cover study in other specific areas of technology practices (e.g. studying online and blended learning approaches and their impact on teaching and learning) as well as a range of learning approaches (e.g. Project-Based Learning).

The 1-to-1 Learning Research Circle has been designed primarily for international school communities that have made significant investments in student computing programs (i.e. 1-to-1 computing, BYOD, etc.), or are on the verge of implementing a new technology program to support teaching and learning. Guided by a leading research expert, member schools have a rich opportunity to document and evaluate how educational technology is used across their school community to support teaching and learning. The results will provide a general audit of teacher and student access, beliefs, and practices (with and without technology) that support learning. Common metrics, goals, and language allow participating schools a deeper understanding of similarities and differences in their educational technology implementation models, expectations, and outcomes. Each participating school is given full access, instructions and support to customized research and measurement tools to systematically collect, quantify, and interpret the perspectives of students, teaching staff, and parents through a series of fully customizable surveys. The 1-to-1 Learning Research Circle is led by renowned researcher, Dr. Damian Bebell. Six leading international schools are participating in the 1-to-1 Learning Research Circle:

  • Singapore American School
  • Zurich International School
  • Frankfurt International School
  • Graded School of Sao Paolo
  • Cairo American College
  • American School of Bombay

Stay tuned for more information about the IRC and its findings.

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Reader is dead. What will replace RSS in your publishing plan?

May 5, 2013 by · No Comments · Waciuma Wanjohi

Cross posted at waciuma.com

When I heard that Google is discontinuing Reader (the most popular RSS reader around), I had two thoughts:

  1. Well now how am I going to read the internet?
  2. How will anyone read my blog?
Photo remixed by Waciuma. Original: FrodoBabbs

 

As time has passed, answers to the first question have started pouring. First came a message from my most trusted source on tech, my brother. He pointed to Feedly, which is a web, android and iOS app. The girl- and boy-scouts over there have been anticipating the death of Reader and are prepared. They promise a seamless transition to their platform which will look and feel just like Reader. If Feedly isn’t your cup of tea, c|net has other flavors of RSS readers for you to try.

More difficult than the question of how I will read, however, is how will YOU read me? You, the ethereal reader, how do I expect you to consume these very words? Because I am newly persuaded that RSS is dead.

I need a plan. What’s more, you need a plan. You and I, we cannot be content with posting riveting content and waiting for Google Reader or another RSS service to deliver it to past readers. Be it via Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, LinkedIn, we need to reach our next audience member through their social network. I’m starting my planning today.

How do you intend to reach your next audience member?

Going Back to Kindergarten

May 1, 2013 by · No Comments · Others

With guest blogger, Tiffany Hill from KGA

I read a post by Daniel Pink a while back and he mentioned a quote from Albert Einstein.  “If you can’t explain it to a six-year-old, you don’t understand it yourself.” This couldn’t have showed up at a better time because just the night before, Tiffany Hill was telling me about her class unit on wheat that was going to culminate in baking bread.  Coincidentally, my 11th grade IB biology class was studying cellular respiration at the moment and we had just finished going over anaerobic respiration, specifically the mechanisms involved in alcoholic fermentation of yeast.  The following class period, I needed to go into detail with my higher level students about the Kreb’s cycle and electron transport, and I was looking for an engaging activity for my standard level students to do while I was working with the HL students.

We decided that we would do a joint project between my SL students and her kindergarten students.  Instead of just baking bread, we turned her class into an entire day of scientific experimentation to assist the big kids in their research.

In class the next day, I gave my SL students the task of performing two experiments and making a video for 5 year olds to explain how “gas” is produced when you put yeast into warm water and feed it sugar.  Their video was broken down into the following parts:

  • a screencast explanation of yeast as a living organism
  • an experiment showing the gas production of yeast with sugar using the color change of bromothymol blue
  • the same experiment showing that the air we breathe out is the same gas that is produced by yeast
  • an explanation of the experiment they wanted kindergarteners to do in order to help them with their very important research on yeast

In the video, my students asked the kindergarten to find out how the temperature of water (ice water, room temperature, warm water, and boiling water) affected the amount of gas produced by the yeast by measuring the height of the dough before and after it rose.

 

This past week, Tiffany sent me her class's video response to our project.  I happened to get the e-mail right before my 11th grade biology class, so without previewing it, I shared all of this five year old yummy goodness with my class.  They LOVED it...too much...in fact they all whined for about 10 minutes about how they want to go back to kindergarten.  To be completely honest, so do I, and not just because they get donuts for snack time!  The video below explains our project from KG's perspective.