Technology Help and Coaching

by Colleen Worrell, Secondary Technology Integration Coordinator

After a half-hour coaching session on how to use and organize Google Drive, a student remarked, “Thanks so much, Ms. Worrell. I would have never been able to do this on my own.” Hannah’s words gave me pause. Today’s high school students have more access to technology than any other previous generation. As research and experience has made clear, however, access doesn’t necessarily mean that students have the skills or confidence to use technology effectively, efficiently, and safely. While terms like the “Net Generation,” "Generation S(creen)," and “Digital Natives” abound, today’s students do not have, as one media studies instructor at University of Virginia has remarked, “some special path to the witchcraft of ‘digital awareness.’” Indeed, most teachers at HHS would likely agree with Kansas State University professor Michael Wesch’s observation that many students have only a superficial familiarity with the digital tools that can help them succeed in school and beyond (“The Net Generation Unplugged,” The Economist, March 4, 2010).

Helping Hannah learn Google Drive was, in part, about technology. But just as importantly, our session addressed broader skills including how to get and stay organized, ways to communicate effectively with and get help from teachers, and strategies for collaborating with peers. After she left, I was inspired to write this post to remind students and their families of the many ways they can access tech help and coaching at HHS:

• Classroom Teachers: Don’t hesitate to ask teachers for help on assignments or processes that require student use of technology. Teachers should not be expected to have all the answers; however, for anything beyond their expertise, they will always be able to connect students with someone who can help.
• HS Tech Center: Our technicians in the HS Technology Center go above and beyond the call of duty, helping students with everything from finding lost papers on frozen laptops to uploading gigantic video files to Moodle and coaching students how to use shortcut keys on their laptops. Students who need help can stop by the Tech Center (2nd floor, HHS), which is open on school days from 7am-3pm. They can also submit a ticket to the Technology Help Desk.
• Freshman Technology Seminar: All 9th graders have one term of Freshman Tech. We use the 6 short sessions that make up the seminar to build students’ expertise in Google tools, Moodle, file storage & management, and video creation. However, this course also serves as a forum for coaching students on learning in a 1-1 environment. My advice to 9th graders is to use this time wisely: ask questions, share ideas, and develop new skills. Moreover, I encourage students to seek out help from their Freshman Tech teacher, even after they have finished course. These teachers have a wealth of knowledge and expertise that they are happy to share with students.
• Technology Integration Coordinator: My primary role in the school is to support teachers and students. I am happy to meet with students to do one-on-one technology coaching. Students can stop by my office (located on the 1st floor by the cafeteria) or they can make an appointment to meet by sending me an email (cworrell@hopkinton.k12.ma.us) or calling my extension (508-497-9820 x1520). Parents are also invited to contact me if there are questions or issues they would like to discuss.

Like my meeting with Hannah, the goals of the 1-1 program extend beyond helping students master technology. By offering multiple avenues of support, the program aims to create confident, self-directed students who enjoy learning.

Laptops in the Wellness Classroom

by Bruce Elliott, District Wellness Coordinator

As we enter the fourth month of the 1-1 laptop program I have been pleasantly surprised by the adaptation of this new tool by students. As a former university instructor, this resource has been a pleasant addition to my teaching and lesson delivery at the high school level.  The 1-1 program has so many possibilities and applications that I am very excited to see how students embrace this resource in class and at home. 

Currently, Wellness classes are involved in presenting mock-trails on underage drinking. The 1-1 program has been useful in connecting students to this issue in the "real world." Students have used their laptops to research legal terms, civil law, Massachusetts State Law, precedents, courtroom procedures, and awarding of damages. Legal information abounds on the Internet and students are getting first-hand experience in meeting the demands of a lawyer in case development. Students have commented on how extensive the prep time is and they cannot imagine doing this type of career without computers. As one 9th grader put it, “Mr. Elliott, this is not like what we see on TV. The amount of work and level of detail is overwhelming.” 

Within this unit, “Class Action,” students are given cases in which they represent plaintiffs or defendants involved in underage drinking. Students are asked to research Massachusetts' law with regards to legal drinking age and OUI, as well as what consequences await those who are convicted. This Internet research has been highly beneficial in utilizing resources to prepare their cases. In addition, our open source Learning Management System (LMS), Moodle, has been used for this assignment (as well as other units) to house data and stay organized. Moodle is an interactive system that is open to students to retrieve teacher documents, assignments, videos, and daily lessons.

As with any new system, using Moodle and other technology does take time to master. Moodle will become more interactive as I get to know the technology. On the Moodle horizon will be online quizzes/tests, blogs, and discussion boards to augment in-class assessments in Wellness. As a district, we are fortunate to have this resource and I believe the 1-1 environment will have a positive overall impact on student learning as they work to future endeavors.

Time for Reflection

by Colleen Worrell, Secondary Technology Integration Coordinator

 

Late November approaches the three month mark for our 1-1 Laptop Program. The administrative team is busy gathering feedback from students, parents, and teachers in order to assess how things are going so far and to consider ways we might improve the program going forward. We have held focus groups and are currently gathering information from surveys as part of our evaluation process. The key findings from this process will be shared with the community in various ways, including through this blog. In the meantime, however, I wanted to share out a blog post by Charlie Roy, Principal of Peoria Notre Dame High School (PNDHS) in Peoria, Illinois. Roy's post, Reflection on Two Years of 1:1, resonates with the vision and goals of our own program. Like PNDHS, HHS's 1-1 journey is ongoing and we look forward to sharing our own "lessons learned" in future posts on this blog.

Digital Storytelling: Technology as a Platform for Narrative Writing

 by Shari Meyer, HS English Teacher

 

As a second year teacher, I admit that the prospect of the 9th grade 1-1 program made me a bit nervous. But I soon came to view it as an incredible opportunity. Technology certainly isn’t going to go away, and the sooner we can adjust to the “new normal” of computers in the classroom, the better prepared we will be to educate students who are truly earning the moniker of “digital natives.”  Even more important, I knew the 1-1 laptop program would allow me to model the habits and behaviors of a lifelong learner: trying new things, assessing and then taking risks, and learning from mistakes. I knew it would be a wild ride, but I was ready to jump on board.

In addition to using Blogger, administering quizzes online via Google Forms and Socrative, and having students collaborate on presentations, I set out to create a digital project that would serve as the culmination of the first major unit of the year. As my students and I journeyed through The Odyssey, we discussed what it means to be a hero (was Odysseus heroic or were his flaws too great?) and explored the hero’s journey, a story pattern that can be identified in movies as wide-ranging as The Matrix and The Wizard of Oz. I challenged my students to create a digital storybook from an original story they would write using the hero’s journey as a framework. My goals were two-fold: to have students make use of the hero’s journey pattern and to allow students to demonstrate their master of the MA Common Core Standards for narrative writing in a creative, meaningful way.

I sought assistance from Colleen Worrell, HHS’ Technology Integration Coordinator, to find just the right platform for this project. We considered several, including Voicethread, Animoto, and Mixbook. We weighed the pros and cons of each, and ultimately chose Mixbook because it was easy to learn and we liked the design, which allows viewers to “turn” digital pages. Colleen and I worked together very closely throughout the process to not only ensure that the learning goals were being met, but also to support the seamless blend of technology into the project. We both worked with students to help them master various aspects of the project, from finding “open” images and considering elements of design to cutting and refining their stories to meet project expectations.

At the outset of this project, students completed a brief pre-writing activity to generate ideas, then drafted their stories. They storyboarded their completed drafts and brainstormed images that could accompany and enhance the text on each “page” of the digital story book they knew they would eventually create. They searched for copyright-friendly images and worked diligently on documentation. Finally, they used Mixbook to bring their stories alive!

Based on a survey conducted upon completion of the project, a majority of students really enjoyed this assignment. Several indicated that the biggest challenge they faced was finding images that they were allowed to reuse in their stories without violating copyright. One typical comment read, "I liked the idea of coming up with a story and having all the elements of a hero's journey. I also liked that we created online books instead of having to print them out. The one thing that I really didn't like about this project was finding good pictures to use and where its credit information was." In class, Colleen and I openly acknowledged the challenge of finding images, but felt that this was a great opportunity to teach students about fair use and how to find appropriate materials online.

At the "share fair" that marked the culmination of the project, it became clear that some students used this opportunity to write serious stories, and others to write silly ones; several drew all of their own pictures and scanned them in because they wanted their images to be just right. Each student produced an original story that can be shared with friends and family, and the majority were able to clearly articulate how they had used various aspects of the hero's journey in an original tale, an important goal of the project. This project allowed students to be creative and showcase their personalities while demonstrating understanding of a concept they had learned, which is, to me, at the heart of the 1-1 initiative.

Two ways to backup your MacBook Air!

by Ashoke Ghosh, Assistant Principal

The most important practice you can develop when using a laptop is backing up your data. Computers are only useful tools if you can continue to access documents, images, and applications on your computer's hard drive. Please remember that hard drives can fail or become corrupted and if this happens you can lose all of your important files. This usually becomes a problem when its the night before a paper is due or you go to print some photos for a holiday card and all of a sudden your files are gone.

How can I backup my MacBook Air?

There are two ways to backup your laptop, the first method requires that you purchase an external hard drive or flash drive and the second method utilizes a cloud storage solution. This solution utilizes the internet to upload files to a remote storage facility.  Lets break down the two methods and then you can decide which method works best for you.

External Hard Drive Method:
These drives come in various sizes and ideally it should be as large or larger than your existing hard drive in your MacBook Air. Therefore, the drive should be at least 128gb in size. However, I would recommend buying a 500gb drive or larger unless you are only going to save small files. Just keep in mind students have a lot of music, photos, videos, and games and these files and programs require much more space.
There are a variety of vendors that sell these drives. You can purchase them from big-box stores like Best Buy and Staples or your can get competitive prices with online retailers like Newegg and TigerDirect. Once you have decided on the size of your drive determine if you want a USB 2.0, USB 3.0, or Thunderbolt. The main difference between these choices is speed. USB 2.0 has the slowest data transfer speeds and they get faster as you move towards a Thunderbolt connection. The trade-off is cost, a USB 2.0 back-up solution is cheaper. A typical 500gb, USB 3.0 portable hard drive costs about $60.00.
If you are looking for a smaller solution you can choose to purchase a flash drive or jump drive that connects to the USB port as well. These drives are smaller and usually have smaller storage capacities. They typically range from 1gb - 128gb in size and are sold by many vendors. The benefits of having a jump drive is it size and cost. They generally are a little cheaper but get pretty expensive as you approach the 128gb size. The one thing to consider with this type of drive is that they tend to get lost because they are so small.

Cloud Storage Methods:
Cloud solutions are convenient in many ways but depending on the solution you pick, they can be more pricey over a long period of time. Many vendors charge by month or year and you can expect to pay at least $60/year. The key benefits of a cloud solution are no external drives or equipment, large storage capacities, and increased access to your files via the internet. Most solutions work by installing a piece of software on your machine which enables you to connect to the storage solution. The initial syncing of data may take 1 day to a week depending on the solution you pick because the data must travel from your computer to a remote server via your wireless network. However, once the initial backup is completed follow-up back ups take place automatically in the background and you don't have to manage it. This is one of the major problems with external drives you have to remember to plug it into your computer for it to work. If you are a little more savvy you can connect a backup drive to your home network and the machine will backup when it finds your home network. Here are some vendors to get you started:
Carbonite, Dolly Drive, Justcloud, Sugarsync and Mozy.

Internet Safety

by Phil Powers, Hopkinton High School Resource Office

Just a safety reminder as the school year starts, I want to encourage everyone to be vigilant with all types of social media (for example Facebook and Twitter).  It is important to communicate with your child about what sites they are on and the potential issues that can arise.  With more devices than ever being used (ie. iphones, ipads, laptops etc.) it is critical that we all work together to inform your children about the dangers of these sites and how to use them appropriately.  If your child has a Facebook/Twitter account, I would strongly advise that you talk to them about logins and passwords so you are able to monitor them.  Below are some helpful sites and resources that Hopkinton Public School would like to share.

Tips from FBI Parents Guide to Internet Safety

Instruct your children:
·  to never arrange a face-to-face meeting with someone they met online
·  to never upload (post) pictures of themselves onto the Internet or online service to people they do not personally know
·  to never give out identifying information such as their name, home address, school name, or telephone number
·  to never download pictures from an unknown source (there is a good chance there could be sexually explicit images)
·  to never respond to messages or bulletin board postings that are suggestive, obscene, belligerent, or harassing
·  that whatever they are told online may or may not be true.*
*Adapted from A Parent's Guide to Internet Safety (http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/parent-guide)

Additional resources on internet safety:

·  Safe Teens: http://www.safeteens.com/
·  Wired Safety: https://www.wiredsafety.org/
·  ISafe: http://www.isafe.org/
·  NetSmartz Workshop: http://www.netsmartz.org/Parents

Please feel free to contact me at the high school (powers@hopkinton.k12.ma.us  508-497-9820 ext.1004) or at the police station if you have questions or concerns.

Math Goes 1-1

by Colleen Worrell, Secondary Technology Integration Coordinator

Thinking about the 200+ brand new textbooks filling up what precious little closet space she has in her room, math teacher Carla Crisafulli has to wonder whether the print textbook has become obsolete. “I can’t give them away,” she lamented the other day. The math department was thrilled to have 275 copies of a brand new, beautiful Algebra I textbook ready for freshman on the first day of school. However, there have been very few takers. Now that the students have access to laptops 24/7, “they all use the online version,” Crisafulli explains.

Both students and teachers love their online Algebra I textbook and the myriad resources the publisher provides as part of the textbook package. Not only does the learning site give students access to the entire textbook online, it also includes video lessons, online tutors, guided work on problems, quizzes and other self-assessments where students can check their own learning through feedback provided by the site. Crisafulli, a 9th grade Algebra I teacher and the Curriculum Team Leader for the HS Math Department, was amazed at how the combination of the 1-1 environment and the new online textbook has allowed them to personalize learning for students. As she notes, “The online textbook includes formative assessments like mini-quizzes that helped teachers assess where individual students were when they entered our classrooms.” By two weeks into the school year, teachers were able to get a clear picture on each student’s ability, enabling them to tailor learning to meet individual student needs.

Yet as amazing as the new textbook might be, learning in the mathematics classroom is not contained by that one resource. Teachers are using resources like Moodle and Edmodo to extend learning, creating pencasts and video lectures of what they cover in class, sharing useful sites and resources, and having discussion forums and chats about homework or upcoming tests. Students are also using Gizmos, an interactive online simulation tool that, as the site explains, “helps students develop a deep understanding of challenging concepts through inquiry and exploration.” In short, the range of learning opportunities is varied and extensive, enabling to teachers to reach all types of learners.

What is the impact of all this on students? Ms. Crisafulli glows as describes how much more engaged her students are in the 1-1 classroom environment. She adds, “They absolutely love having their computers. The ease with which students can access all kinds of resources is amazing.” In particular, Crisafulli has been impressed at the speed with which this year’s freshman are learning responsibility and the value of time management. “They are really getting it,” she remarks, “and it’s only one month into the school year. Freshman are figuring out that they need to focus on getting their work done, and if they do that efficiently there will be time left over to play.”

Wanelo, anyone?

The Students’ Take

by Colleen Worrell, Secondary Technology Integration Coordinator

“My favorite color is green.” 
“I love food. All kinds.” 

“I have a hedgehog named Prickles.”

“In the summer, I like to surf.”

“I love Freshman Tech Seminar so much it hurts.”

In my first class meeting of Freshman Technology Seminar, my students had fun sharing something about themselves in a forum on Moodle. With humor, sarcasm, and an equal amount of both thoughtfulness and awkwardness, this activity provided a great way to help us get to know each other a bit. For instance, in my post I shared that I have 7 chickens, 3 kids in Hop schools, and that my favorite 2 sports are soccer and (Patriots) football. This activity also helped students learn some of the ins and outs of posting in an online forum: no “text” speech please, all caps = YELLING in the online world, and yes, punctuation, spelling, and grammar all still “matter.”

When we moved from our virtual forum to an in-class discussion, my students were bursting (okay, I’ll qualify that -- some students were bursting) to share details on how they are using their laptops in the classroom and beyond. It was just over a week into the school year at that point all students reported that they use their laptops in class at some point close to every day. Examples included accessing online textbooks and course Moodle sites, using Google docs, taking quizzes and polls, email, and research on the web. One of my more enthusiastic students shared tips on how he uses Google Calendar to get (and stay) organized with his responsibilities for Student Council, along with his other extracurriculars. Another student recommended an agenda app that helps her keep track of homework, projects, and sports schedules. Not surprisingly, when the subject turned to ways they use the laptops beyond school, the conversation got even livelier (iTunes playlists, video games, PhotoBooth -- need I say more?). A couple students wondered how fully the laptops would become integrated into their learning every day. However, what came through most clearly during our conversation was the students’ overall enthusiasm for being the first HHS class to “go 1-1.”

Apparently, even the seniors are taking notice of the program in its early days. During the second week of school, one member of the Class of 2013 stopped by the Tech Center and asked, “Hey, how can I get one of those Airs?” I’m still not sure whether his question was rhetorical or not....

MacBook Airs have arrived!

by Ashoke Ghosh, Assistant Principal

The MacBook Airs have arrived at the High school and the technology department has been busy imaging the new machines. I had an opportunity to test drive one of the new Airs today and it runs smooth, loads apps fast, and is super light. Students and parents picked up their devices starting August 20th at the High School. Students and parents attended a 3 hour training session to get them up to speed on the new devices.

Welcome to the HHS 1-1 Laptop Blog!

by Ashoke Ghosh, Assistant Principal

As an administrative team we will work hard to post weekly updates about the laptop program at the high school which begins this fall. The purpose of this blog is to make our processes transparent and to inform  parents and our community about the role out of this program. In addition, we hope it will be a great resource for parents at home to help support their students as they participate in this program. We will try to discuss common issues in the blog and present solutions if needed to help remove any roadblocks as we move forward this year. Later this fall we would like to bring on more contributors to the blog specifically teachers so they can have a forum to discuss their experiences in the classroom.