My journey.....as an IB educator: Web 2.0 tools in my Classroom at OIS..

So does the use of technology in class increase or decrease the productive time of interaction between the teacher and students..?

Well , many a number of times I have introduced the discussion of using technology in class amongst educators whom I come across face to face or over the net. These educators are the ones who are not actively involved and connected using the twitter or for whom the mere concept of learning from social networking sites just DOES NOT HAPPEN. I am not criticizing them but trying to explain the sitiuation in which they are because till a few months back I was also in such a state. So this post is to motivate all those educators TO JUST MAKE A START SOMEWHERE.

Although its just been a little less than a year that I have started using twitter and getting connected to the good practices by other educators all around the world, I can already feel the tremendous impact that this has had on the way I use and integrate technology in my class. The best comment I got as of now from my students in my new school is "How do you do all of this at once Miss?". Well I just answer back that by using technology. In this post of mine I will share some of the multiple uses of Web 2.0 tools that I use in my class.

At first I would list why I use the tools?

To save time in class
To engage students using the laptops/ipads
To make knowledge and information available at their finger tips by using their secondary devices such as phone
To save loads of paper from getting printed and piling on my table
To ease my work DEFINITELY
To pass on updated content of my subject
To ignite critical thinking and make students active learners
To incorporate personalized learning in class

Using Edmodo...

As in one of my previous posts I had written that mu work of infusing technology at OIS started from using EDMODO in the classroom. Edmodo is a specially made secured platform for teachers, students and teachers. I have already made several groups for my DP and IGCSE physics students. So the first thing they do is log into the edmodo in class. This helps me to

pass important documents to individual groups
paste web urls for them to open immediately
Paste questions open for ideas
open up the process of peer review on thoughts
develop interest for the visual learners
post an assignment with a due date without printing it
let the student submit or turn the assignment
collect answers on edmodo and use the best ones on the active inspire interactive whitebloard flipcharts
above all to engage the digital generation in a facebook kind of ambiance without its nuisances

The above screenshot is of the answers of students from edmodo that I just put up on the flipchart. This motivates the kinaesthetic learners. And yes they do google for the difficult ones.

I feel that this process is actually keeping them mentally alert, involving them more in the content than compared to the process of me speaking and they listening or just opening the textbooks.

Using Edmodo during design labs for DP students:

I have often used Edmodo in my DP Physics classes during the days the students plan for a Design Lab. In such class there is actually no sound in my class and the whole class interacts with me just on Edmodo. Benefits are threefolded:

The thought process of each student is not disturbed by any sound
Still students can go on clarifying their individual doubts by posting on edmodo
A peep into what the other student is thinking by looking at their queries posted, the variables chosen by all tend to absolutely different .Hence a branched thought process is induced.

Using Google docs and dropbox in my DP Physics classes:

Google docs is another all time favorite of mine as it lets me in control of the class from my desk itself , letting me know which of my students are working and which are not. I usually create individual student folders in my google drive and in those folders individual word file is created and shared with the particular student with editing rights.

Hence again on the days of planning a design lab or writing about a TOK connection with physics, I can exactly keep a record of the work and the rate of work of all students from the tabs. At the same time again write individual comments on the word files as the work is in progress. This saves a lot of time. Once the work is completed,the students just drop their labs in the dropbox folders which is again individually made for them and shared with each one seperately.

And obviously edmodo, drive and dropbox all have apps for android. So all the work is available at my fingertip for checking with my S pen of Galaxy Note. This makes my life a lot easier and simpler making more room for muti-tasking.

Using Wikispaces and ISSUU...

Since I have been maintaining a wiki for my physics classes , my students never feel the lack of availability of resources. Every single resource that I use in class is available on the wiki for them for future refernce. Moreover this year onwards, all my class notes on active inspire flipcharts are being converted to e books and uploaded on my ISSUU shelf for students. This makes the students utillize the class time effectively and productively in solving quality questions rather than copying notes.