SMAR Web 2.0 Classroom Connection to Communities

I am the Public Education Coordinator for three school districts and four municipalities. As the coordinator,  I am responsible for the publications and broadcast for the local area television station. The school districts and municipalities cover two counties.  In my role I have implemented new technologies to bring the group members together and increase communication to the communities.

I work collaboratively with the teachers as they are vital to the success of the productions and broadcast.  Although I am new to SAMR I have found I utilize the model in my position.


Substitution - I have integrated digital technology to improve the system. The video production teachers would have students create PSA's and video special events then save the final products to a hard drive.  The teachers would wait until the hard drive was full, usually about a semester's worth of video production then drive the hard drive over to the broadcast building about 8 miles away.

Through the integration of the new digital technology, I have teachers log on and up load the videos via the Internet for broadcasting. This save time and the videos are published sooner. 

Augmentation - Previously, all scheduling of broadcast was done on a large white board for the week.  It was very difficult to get the information coordinated and the broadcast written down. Then each of the videos had to be manually uploaded to the decks and scheduled to turn on.  Now all of the scheduling is completed through a interactive scheduling software program on the Internet.

Modification -  Scheduling is no longer done by hand using a white board in a  stationary building, but scheduling can be done remotely over the Internet. In addition, all programs can be started and stopped remotely. This modification has altered the presence of a person having to be at the building to complete the task. 

Redefintion - Decreasing the turn around time in production and publication allows student work to be completed and broadcast sooner. Community leaders are now asking if students can collaborate with them and create PSA's about community events, and raising awareness on public safety.

The integration of these technologies has meant an incredible difference for the students, teachers and community members. 

   

 

 

Web 2.0 Google Docs as a Collaborative Tool

I found Barrett’s blog Tips for introducing Online Collaboration very helpful.  The documentation of his observations and implementations create a strong foundation for moving ahead with using Google Docs as a technology resource and a collaboration tool. I have been calling on other teacher colleagues and found they are not using the resource. Mostly it is because of the timing and training issues.

I appreciated Barrett’s responses.   He seemed to anticipate the students’ apprehensions to work with the new technology, but came across to me as he was surprised that student found it a new concept they should be working together in groups.

Barrett’s comment about all groups of children will respond differently about working in groups, is a true. I felt it tied in with different generational learners. It is a reminder to teachers that students come from diverse backgrounds.

Barrett has shared several good points, which would be easy to implement following are two:

1.        Have students model or demonstrate to the class how working together/collaboratively will look.

2.       Creating a large grid with a spreadsheet and have student select a cell to enter their name. Students would then write something about themselves next to their name.  The grid created a visual for student about the class, which they could see they were a part of the class. This was a very powerful example.

In addition, I visited Barrett’s blog and am now following him on twitter. I think he is a great resource