SYS Presents: Adventures in Online Education – Details, episodes & analysis

Show Notes

Peter Drake is Associate Professor of Computer Science at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon. He teaches a variety of courses including Software Development and AI & Machine Learning. His research has involved building artificially intelligent programs to play the classical Asian game of Go, using deep neural networks to analyze photographs of clouds, and creating video games to teach people about earthquake preparedness.

In today’s episode. Peter talks about learning management systems, knowing your purpose as a student, and helping high schoolers learn the basics of how to college.

Timestamps

2:22 What makes a good LMS, and how can a teacher harness those tools to effectively engage with their students?

4:33 An on-demand source of administrative information

7:41 Connecting the LMS with other technologies students are using

8:34 Don’t use more technology than is necessary 

12:53 How can online high schools prepare students for college?

14:43 In some ways, college is just the next 4 grades….

15:20 Don’t be afraid to ask questions!

18:22 If you’ve been using a system for years, you may think it’s obvious, but not to a new user

18:32 Students are not alone! 

19:14 Using your time wisely

20:40 Check your email at least once a day

23:27 The Plan, Change, Evaluate cycle

26:09 What holds students back when they’re entering college?

26:51 Making mistakes is how you learn

31:47 If there was one thing Peter could give to every teacher in the U.S., what would it be and why?

Episode Resources:

Peter Drake’s short essay on How To College

Small Teaching and Small Teaching Online - Books by Flower Darby and James M. Lang

Geeky Pedagogy - Book by Jessamyn Neuhaus

Ungrading - Book edited by Susan Blum

You can email me at drake@lclark.edu.

For social media, I’m on Mastodon at https://qoto.org/@peterdrake. 

https://github.com/PeterDrake/drakepedia/blob/master/administrivia/how_to_college.md

Guest Bio

Maddy Dahl has been teaching online for 8 years. During her tenure, she has taught a wide range of classes from basic high school writing and grammar to AP English courses. When she isn’t teaching, you can usually find her playing board games or exploring Oregon. 

Episode Summary

Maddy teaches us about how to create an online AP course for students, how to help students earn college credits while in high school, and provides invaluable advice to teachers just getting started on their AP journey. 

Timestamps

Maddy’s exciting news! [2:13]

How do you create high school AP courses online? [3:50]

How the FCM works in an online AP class [6:40]

A focus on collaboration asynchronously and synchronously [8:53]

Supporting students’ organization, practice, and executive functioning [9:30]

All about formative assessments [11:50]

Collaborate and listen [13:21]

Partnering with community colleges [16:56]

AP and college credit courses are rigorous but different [20:25]

Maddy’s advice for creating your own online AP course [22:00]

Maddy’s favorite teacher when she was in high school [26:29]

Resources

Find Maddy Dahl at mdahl@syseducation.org

How-To AP Guide FREEBIE

College Credit Now (Oregon)

Frontier Charter Academy

College Board

AP Central

FCM Episode (S2 EP16)

Jonathan brands himself as an Educational Technology Specialist. He is not working toward “best practices,” but rather “next practices.” He believes that innovation and creativity is where we are supposed to live as educators and that the phrase that will kill a career is, “but I have always done it this way.”

In today’s episode, Jonathan talks to us about Project Based Learning. He examines the generational differences in technology that kids are dealing with today, talks about how we can work with students to understand their motivations, and how to use tech in the classroom effectively. 

Timestamps

2:35 Who is iGen? And what do we do to adapt online education to their educational needs?

3:52 The good things about Millennials - and the consequences 

5:16 Different generational attitudes about technology

8:47 Education about digital privacy

9:40 How Computer Science aligns with privacy, morals, and ethics

10:19 Technology laws are often archaic

11:59 Talking to kids about privacy

13:41 How socialization has changed with social media

18:06 Online learning has been a major pivot for a lot of people, and we’ve learned a lot about it in the past few years

19:02 Elementary teachers do PBL so well! 

21:45 Problem based learning

24:27 How are we connecting with students?

25:13 What do students care about?

28:28 Laying out expectations

28:44 How do you do this with tech?

29:49 Bringing in experts

31:52 One of the great powers of online education

32:36 Why does this matter (to me)?

38:00 If Jonathan could give one thing to every teacher in the U.S., what would it be?

Resources

Twitter @jonredeker

Gmail jredeker@gmail.com

Website sites.google.com/view/jonathanredeker

Colin Seale was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, where struggles in his upbringing gave birth to his passion for educational equity. Tracked early into gifted and talented programs, Colin was afforded opportunities his neighborhood peers were not. Using lessons from his experience as a math teacher, later as an attorney, and now as a keynote speaker, contributor to Forbes, The 74, Edutopia and Education Post and author of Thinking Like a Lawyer: A Framework for Teaching Critical Thinking to All Students (Prufrock Press, 2020) and Tangible Equity: A Guide for Leveraging Student Identity, Culture, and Power to Unlock Excellence In and Beyond the Classroom (Routledge, 2022), Colin founded thinkLaw (www.thinklaw.us), a multi-award-winning organization to help educators leverage inquiry-based instructional strategies to close the critical thinking gap and ensure they teach and reach all students, regardless of race, zip code or what side of the poverty line they are born into. When he’s not serving as the world’s most fervent critical thinking advocate or tweeting from @ColinESeale, Colin proudly serves as the world’s greatest entertainer to his two young children.

In today’s episode, Colin teaches us to unlock brilliance in our students and move beyond compliance to build psychological safety in our online classes and engage all students with critical thinking.

Timestamps

2:27 What’s the unique draw to Tangible Equity? 

6:38 Asking, ‘What is the significance?’

7:52 Bringing kid’s backgrounds into their learning

10:11 Kids need to be not just problem solvers, but problem finders

12:40 Is the “Why” different for different students?

14:20 Unpacking the hidden curriculum

16:47 How you as a teacher can make a tangible difference

18:41 Our kids need direct engagement with each other to learn how to be better

23:02 How did Think Law come to be?

24:42 What Think Law does right now

29:03 Learning how to learn

32:50 Do our kids have the psychological safety to be brilliant?

36:26 The importance of teacher confidence

38:26 What would Colin give to every teacher in the U.S.?

Resources

@ThinklawUS 

@ColinESeale

Show Notes

Dr. Luke Hobson is the Senior Instructional Designer and Program Manager at MIT, the author of the book What I Wish I Knew Before Becoming an Instructional Designer, the founder of Instructional Design Institute, and the host of the Dr. Luke Hobson Podcast and YouTube Channel.

In today’s episode, Luke tells us all about instructional design, and how you can get started in your classroom. 

Timestamps

2:46 What does an instructional designer do?

3:42 How did Dr. Luke get involved in instructional design?

6:52 Luke did NOT love school as a kid! 

8:48 The importance of getting to know your students

11:19 Telling younger students about instructional design

13:15 EVERYONE needs an instructional designer! 

16:41 How does a teacher start the process of improving their instructional design?

18:03 Incorporating student voice

19:02 Beta testing your courses before they go live

22:27 Course mapping using your data

27:52 Using qualitative AND quantitative data

31:48 So many more people know what instructional design is now! 

34:19 Trying to avoid using jargon

35:14 Actually, maybe jargon can be inclusive SOMETIMES

37:10 What would Luke give to every teacher in the U.S.?

Resources

https://drlukehobson.com/

Show Notes

Jay McTighe has a wealth of experience and knowledge developed during a rich and varied career in education. He is an accomplished author having co-authored 17 books, including the award-winning and best-selling Understanding by Design series with the late Grant Wiggins. His books have been translated into 12 languages. Jay has also written more than 50 articles and book chapters and been published in leading journals, including educational leadership and Education Week. He has an extensive background and professional development, and is a regular speaker at national, state and district conferences and workshops. He has conducted workshops in 47 states within the US and seven Canadian provinces, and internationally to educators in 35 countries on six continents.

In today’s episode, Jay explains Understanding by Design, and how you can implement it in your classroom. He tells us how UbD can lead to deeper understanding and learning and talks about assessment in the UbD framework. 

Timestamps

3:58 What is Understanding by Design?

4:53 A modern education should do more than equip students to repeat back information they’ve learned

5:32 Teaching does not ensure learning

6:22 The three stages of backward design

7:17 Stage one: Identifying transfer goals

8:06 Stage two: What would students need to be able to transfer?

8:25 Stage three: Identifying the more specific and discrete knowledge and skill objectives

8:55 Understanding by Design in a nutshell

10:07 Teachers can answer Ryan Bowens’ question

11:40 Some areas of curriculum are naturally taught with UbD

12:04 What do those areas have in common? 

12:48 UbD is also common with extracurricular activities

12:59 What makes learning meaningful

13:25 An athletics analogy

14:28 Teaching isn’t just about marching through grade level standards

17:25 Is there still wiggle room in the day to day operations of our classes?

17:55 Essential Questions

18:48 Some examples of essential questions

19:48 Assessments we use should be directly linked to the goals we’ve identified in stage one

20:35 There may not be much differentiation with WHAT we want students to know, but there can be in HOW they demonstrate their understanding

20:54 An example about declarative knowledge

23:37 The bookends of goals and success criteria

24:37 An example about with the goal of argumentation

28:19 Where to start with backward design?

31: 55 Some advice for teachers new to UbD

35:14 Find a partner or a team to plan with! 

36:42 What would Jay give to every teacher in the U.S. and why?

Resources

Jaymctighe.com

Twitter - @jaymctighe

Understanding by Design by Ryan S. Bowen

Grant Wiggins’ YouTube Video

UbD White Paper from ASCD

Tomlinson, C., & McTighe, J. (2006). Integrating differentiated instruction and Understanding by Design: Connecting content and kids. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Guest Bio - 

My guest today is Cassie Pierce. This is her eighth year teaching. She has experience teaching both upper and lower elementary in very different school settings (private, public, charter etc.) with an equal amount of time both in-person and online. She went back to school to become a teacher while working full time at a not-for-profit hospice where she worked for six years. Cassie volunteered after work for a children’s bereavement support group and this experience coupled with her time in classrooms, inspired her to pursue an education degree. Cassie is also an instructional coach for online teachers. 

Summary - 

In our Greatest Hits episode, Cassie and Natalie talk about all things class culture and relationship building. You’re going to feel like you’ve just received a big hug by the end of this one!

Timestamps - 

We are a team! [2:48]

How the doctor’s office is like school [5:20]

The words we use make a difference [7:17]

Defining and building a positive class culture [10:20]

Offering multiple supply options [16:05]

Building culturally responsive curriculum [19:57]

Growth and process over product and answers [24:34]

Cassie’s favorite teacher [28:40]

Resources - 

Class Jobs Freebie!

Disability Visibility by Alice Wong

Valerie Sousa is a Kindergarten Teacher from Western Massachusetts. She has been teaching for 12 years and loves to incorporate new and innovative ideas into her classroom. She is the author of the book “Coding to Kindness” through EduMatch Publishing. This book was inspired by her students and her journey as she began coding in the classroom.

In today’s episode, Valerie teaches us that teaching students to code young can also help them build community and SEL skills. She shows us how to start kids off with the “building blocks” of coding, and explains how teaching the logic of coding early can help with foundational skills. 

Time Stamps

1:59 How Valerie’s coding and kinder journey began

4:35 Basic building blocks for coding

6:57 Coding is a collaborative task! 

8:50 Benefits of learning to code young

10:01 The SEL side of coding

10:28 What makes a community? 

13:44 How do SEL and coding come together in the classroom? 

14:30 What inspired Valerie to write Coding for Kindness

14:50 Teaching kids to be part of a community

16:13 Women in STEM! 

17:37 An interactive book

20:46 Guided questions and background history! 

22:07 What thing would Valerie give to every teacher in the U.S.?

23:22 Remembering the things that you’ve done over the year 

Resources

• Valerie’s Website
• Brian Aspinall
• Robot mouse activity set
• Botley the coding robot

Guest Bios - 

All of Season Two’s guests are featured today! It’s an all-star crew!

Episode Summary - 

All of our guests and the crew at AOE answer the same question - Who was your favorite teacher as a kid and why? 

Timestamps - 

Katie Novak [1:21]

John Warner [6:35]

Allison Galvin [8:54]

Tom Schimmer [10:11]

Ken Williams [12:27]

Amanda VanBuren [14:46]

Rachael George [17:00]

Nefertiti Dukes [19:17]

Tim Batiuk [20:25]

Chase Orton [22:41]

Cassie Pierce [24:15]

Matt Rhoads [28:11]

Maddy Dahl [29:29]

Rachel McBroom [31:36]

Thomas Cooper [32:48]

Chris Smith [33:35]

Chris Voelker [34:33]

Shawn Bundy [36:54]

Megan Mills [40:36]

Katie Schweitzer [42:56]

Andrew Senkowski [44:59]

Nick Wolf [47:17]

Joe Dale [50:32]

Jodi Miller [53:10]

Fonz Mendoza [53:38]

Ashley White [55:05]

Matt Duran [55:50]

Lexie Boren [56:48]

Natalie Farrell [58:14]

Natalie Conway [1:00:15]

Resources - 

SYS Website

Guest Bio -

Joe Dale was a teacher for 13 years and is now an independent languages consultant. He’s from the UK and works with a range of organizations such as the BBC, Skype, Microsoft, The Guardian and many more. He has spoken at conferences and run training courses around the world!

Episode Summary - 

Today Natalie and Joe talk about how technology can help students gain a deeper understanding and appreciation for modern foreign languages and cultures. 

Timestamps - 

What Joe and Natalie have in common [2:11]

Free webinars?! Yes please! [4:01]

Benefits of Google Arts and Culture in virtual classrooms [6:53]

Importance of primary sources [7:38]

What’s the future of augmented reality (AR)? [9:14]

How Google Earth can help with language learning [14:30]

Traveling around the world with Window Swap and more [16:32]

Natalie’s high school language teachers took two different approaches [20:01]

Yes/and not either/or when it comes to language and culture [21:14]

Technology as a means to promote independent learning [26:10]

How Joe’s approach to Clinical Sessions inform our work with students [28:13]

The need for algorithms and apps to be paired with a human element [30:32]

Will technology replace teachers? [34:42]

Who was Joe’s favorite teacher as a child? [36:42]

Episode Resources - 

Find Joe Dale

Twitter @joedale

YouTube 

LinkedIn

FREEBIE!!! Online Tools for Language Learning

Virtual Field Trip Websites 

Google Earth

Window Swap

Drive N Listen

City Walks

Virtual Vacation

ThingLink Expeditions

Other Resources

TiLT Webinars (free)

Learning For Justice

Facing History

Quizlet

EdPuzzle

Google Arts and Culture

FlipGrid AR

EdTech Review Sept 2021 Article

Book Creator

GifCap Developer

MOTE

Vocaroo