Rutgers CESP Alternate Route Teachers Model Digital Learning By Engaging In Real-Time LinkedIn Chat

Rutgers CESP Alternate Route Teachers Model Digital Learning By Engaging In Real-Time LinkedIn Chat

July 12, 2016

Rutgers CESP’s Alternate Route teaching program is unique in its commitment to encouraging candidates to utilize social media for professional development purposes. Last month, our 100+ NJ teaching candidates participated in real-time professional brainstorming sessions using our program's LinkedIn group. They discussed the benefits and challenges associated with engaging students, parents and families, and colleagues via digital technology. We've highlighted below some of the techniques and best practices our candidates shared during this live LinkedIn chat.

 

 

 
 

One of the most effective ways parents and families help children achieve ambitious educational goals is to become involved in their children’s education. Regular updates on children’s growth can encourage parents and families to engage in more learning-related activities at home. Many technologies exist that allow teachers to regularly communicate with parents and families, without burdening their workflows. Many of the teaching candidates participating in our alternate route program leverage a blend of education-specific and general use technologies that parents are already familiar with.

Using Technology to Engage Parents and Families—Describe your current practice related to technology use for communicating with parents. What adjustments might you make to align your communication practices with the recommendations from the National Afterschool Alliance video?

Out of the 21 students in my classroom about 10 of the parents have my number and prefer to text with me openly. 6-8 prefer email and the rest prefer phone. I have a great line of communication with my parents by way of Classroom Dojo and Edmodo. Technology is great when communicating with parents because everything is documented.

Currently. I use Remind.com (formerly Remind101). Remind is a free communication tool that helps teachers quickly connect with students and parents outside of the classroom walls. Through the secure platform, a teacher may send messages to an entire class or individual subscribers. More efficient than traditional notes homes or phone calls, a teacher may send one-way announcements or starting two-way chats with parents. The Remind platform can be utilized through a website or on a smartphone application for easy access. I like using Remind as a communication channel because it keeps track of my conversations if I ever need to share a Parent Communication log with my administrators.

As a teacher in a Google district, my primary contact with parents has been through Gmail. I use Google classroom, but I don't like the fact that parents are not able to access it. This sometimes hinders contact via technology. Next year I'm planning on incorporating Remind. And I think that incorporating a survey for communication preferences at the beginning of the school year will be helpful.

I use Class dojo in my classroom and it allows me to instantly text the students and the parents using the app on my phone. I also use the remind app for those parents who are not on class dojo. I would like to try using Google Voice to communicate with the parents of my students. I also would like to create a youtube page in which I take videos of my students when they do cool projects so the parents can see what the students are doing in class.

I communicate with parents though emails, phone calls and twitter. I have an official twitter page for my classes. My instructional assistant has suggested that I limit myself to phone calls because emails lead to misinterpretations at times. Instagram and Pin it sound great but some parents do not give permission for posting images of their children online.

 

 

Technology can play a huge part in motivating, involving, and inspiring students inside and outside of the classroom. Many of our alternate route candidates utilize digital tools in order to reinforce and support their content planning and engagement, collaborative learning, and other goals.

  I use sites like GoNoodle and Dojo. GO Noodle provides safe brain break activities for kids so they can get up, get active, and not be stuck sitting all day. Dojo allows points to be given for good behavior...as an incentive. Additionally, I like to use Kahoot and other game sites to keep students interested and engaged while also being able to view their

My school currently uses a touch screen smart TV within the classroom. This has helped significantly for my students during morning meeting/calendar time and other work periods. We also have a classroom IPad which can be used which has great apps like ChooseItMaker, Look and Listen Pro, and other cause and effect games. My students have special needs, and the IPad also counter acts as a communication device for some of my students who have minimal verbal language skills. The biggest issue I have with technology within the classroom is the lack of funding for each student to have access to an IPad. Our school has 1 Ipad per classroom. Furthermore, many of my students are of lower economic status, and do not have access to technology in their households. Additionally, due to the nature of my students' disabilities, my students can not use a computer. Some can activate an AblNet or other switch program.

I continuously look for ways to inspire my students. I have them use bitstrips to express stories about themselves and their lives. I try to explore the growing art resources online as well. The wonderful, engaging art history options have changed the way to teach art and make it much more age appropriate. Edmodo and Kahoot are also a wonderful interactive competitive resources.

I use some of the Web 2.0 technology with my students. For instance, I have a website dedicated to my high school students where they can go and see the latest announcements regarding classes, check out links to colleges, find articles to read, etc. I constantly think about menus/ resources to add. I also try to find resources(technology) that I can use in my classes to help to enhance my students' understanding of the content materials (I teach English). However, since my classroom is not the most technologically friendly one, I often have to reserve the Media Center to be able to use the technology if my students need to do any "hands on" activities with technology. The Media Center is for everyone at school. Especially when there is testing going on, it is tough to reserve a spot. That is a challenge. I also do not want my students to lose focus on the material itself. After all, the "glitz" and "glamour" of the tech. materials are there to help them learn.

There is a downside to these tools, and that, I think, is that they can present a distraction from the work. The way I overcome and avoid this is through monitoring the students usage closely. Also, I have been trying to have them take and be proud of their self ownership in the class. This gives them a stronger impetus to stay on task.

I try to utilize Canvas as much as possible in my classroom. I will post homework, rubrics, upcoming tests/quizzes, project outlines, finalized presentations, notes, etc. so that my students are always able to get what they need at a moments notice. However, as Nicole pointed out, some students do not have the access to the internet at all times, so I make sure to go over everything in class as well. This way, if a student does have access, they get the same information in two different forms. Other than Canvas, I allow my students to use whatever methods of technology they prefer, and I work around them. When I have students submit work, for example a presentation, I like to have a finalized copy on my computer so I can load it in class quickly. Some students will email an attachment, while others will share it with me via google docs. Whatever they are comfortable with, I will try to accommodate.

Currently I use websites such as ABC mouse, Readingbear.org to help my students with their alphabet pronunciation techniques and also these websites help the student interact. A major barrier is that not all students have access to technology at home. For some students the only technology exposure they have is during school hours.

I use technology to encourage student engagement in several ways. I use my smartboard on a daily basis in order to model skills such as sentence diagramming and editing. Although my students aren’t allowed to access the internet, I received special permission to let them use Kahoot.it. Kahoot provides us with a fun platform to “gameify” review activities. Lastly, I use audiobooks extensively in order to differentiate instruction for students with lower reading levels, or those who have trouble concentrating. One of the major barriers to using web 2.0 in my classroom is the fact that school policy has extremely strict guidelines when it comes to internet access. This could be overcome by having the IT department vet all the web2.0 links I would like to use. Another impediment is the fact that there is only one computer in my room. This can be overcome by scheduling a regular day to borrow laptops from our IT coordinator.

 

 

Developing a blended professional learning network (PLN) online and offline is essential to the long term career progression of teachers of all disciplines and career stages. Rutgers CESP Alternate Route course instructors lead many initiatives like this LinkedIn chat in order to immerse our teachers in digital networking and collaboration. As a result, our teachers leave our Alternate Route program with a refined understanding of how to grow their PLN, develop their technique, and source credible tools and resources via the web.

I just participated in a Professional Development for my department where I trained my colleagues in Pear Deck. I have also shared Zaptions. Occasionally we use Google Forms to communicate with each other.

Some of my best collaboration occurs with teachers outside of my school, or other educators I had met before I even became a teacher. I have one other chemistry teacher to collaborate with, but to augment that, I also have a great mentor/department head who has given me a lot of exceptional guidance. I will say that some of the twitter and PD webinars I have signed up for have also helped my creativity in class a ton. Sometimes it's hard to remember where an idea came from, because there are so many sources of collaboration. Therefore, I view almost all possible collaboration as essential, not just online.

I use Pinterest the most and on a weekly basis to collaborate with other French and Spanish teachers. Otherwise, I do face to face with my mentor and other same grade level teachers. Additionally, I am getting my MAT which is another opportunity. I am trying to get more into twitter to grow my PLN and learn about workshops I can attend on my own. I have found conferences on Facebook as well.

In my school, we use technology for professional collaboration and learning processes. We use Relias Training and Autism Training Solutions, which is composed of video modules and online quizzes, to learn and grow as a professional community. We also use the same IPad network so we can share apps and media through that venue. Like Frank Rovelli, we use Google Docs/ Google Slides, and other google based forums to share and explore files.

Currently, and most recently, I began using Twitter. Twitter has opened a new door of academic discourse for me that I otherwise would not have been able to engage in. I love collaborating with educators both in and outside of the Alternate Route program and have begun branching out more. I look forward to engaging in posts, however as a new user to Twitter I find the character allotment limiting. In school, we use apps to communicate such as Zello for walkie-talkie communication outdoors, and a group text chat that was created specifically for our grade level. Technology provides so many opportunities to for teachers in their professional practice if they are open to it. I feel that new technology can be overwhelming for some as to learn/use but it most beneficial for teachers to use.

Our school has a sincere focus on collaboration and most staff are highly interested in exchanging ideas and resources with others. Frequently over the course of this school year, I have conferred with my colleagues regarding specific tools and instructional methods that work well. Likewise, I have also piloted several web 2.0 tools for widespread classroom use and have made recommendations to the rest of the staff based on my findings. Technological advancement can be an intimidating change, particularly for those who are used to pen-and-paper instructional methods who may be apprehensive of such developments. However, I sincerely believe that the instructional and communication tools available to us now heighten productivity and provide greatly enhanced opportunity to drive meaningful, deep learning.

 

Alternate route teaching programs must provide ample opportunities for candidates to expand their technical competencies and grow comfortable using both general purpose and education-specific digital technologies. Candidates who leave with a deep understanding of how to utilize technology for learning and develop a strong digital PLN are well-poised to make their mark in the profession working with colleagues, students and parents. For these reasons, the Rutgers CESP Alternate Program regularly requires teaching candidates to participate in chats hosted on popular social media platforms like LinkedIn, hosts workshops and conferences focused on edtech, and shares teaching resources as well as professional opportunities on our blog and newsletters.

 

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Heather Ngoma

Heather Ngoma has over 25 years of experience collaborating with educators across New Jersey to drive education innovation. She currently serves as the Director of the Rutgers-GSE Alternate Route Program in the Department of Learning and Teaching, a program which helps career changers, recent college graduates, and other aspiring education professionals become licensed teachers in New Jersey. Follow her on Twitter @heatherngoma.