Learning a Second Language with DiLL (Thanks to HEF!)

by Colleen Worrell, Secondary Technology Integration Coordinator

In the Spring of 2012 HHS received a generous grant (2nd largest in the history of the foundation) from the Hopkinton Education Foundation. This level of support indicated the excitement they shared about DiLL, the Digital Language Lab for Macs, and the potential it had for boosting student engagement and learning in the World Language Program at HHS.

 Heading into 2015, with a year or so of learning with DiLL behind us, we took some time to survey students and reflect upon the impact this digital tool and lab environment has had.

Image credit: Swift Education.com

Here is some recent feedback from teachers:

“DiLL makes speaking Spanish fun for my students. The wide variety of ways that students can be connected to each other and interact with each other while immersing themselves in the target language make it a wonderful tool. My students are always excited for Lab Day!”

"DiLL provides a user-friendly environment for students to speak and listen in authentic ways, while also serving as an efficient tool for teachers to track (record) student progress and help students practice and master a second language in engaging ways."
 
"Shifting into the lab to practice speaking Spanish with DiLL is a much anticipated part of my students’ week!”

Here's some feedback from a recent student survey:

• “It involves a fun way to talk to many people and is productive because you aren't walking around getting distracted.”
• “I like the way you are partnered with a random person and then you can talk with them through the headphones.”
• “One reason I like Dill because you get to practice hablar with a partner, and do not have to speak to the whole class. I also like it because it makes speaking in Spanish more efficient.”

Of course, not all students enjoy their DiLL experience. Here’s some of their feedback:

• “I would like to have some kind of tab or notification that says like Host has entered chat. I don't like to be spied on….”
• “The fact that it doesn't let you do anything else on the computer while it's active--It gets annoying.”
• “I don't like when we do the recordings because it can get boring listening to yourself speak.”

Ironically, some of the things that bother students are what make DiLL a great teaching tool. And while a handful of students respond that they don’t like learning with DiLL (12% out of the 154 students surveyed), the overwhelming majority (88%) indicated they do (see chart below).

December 2014 HHS Student Survey (154 replies)

One final note on the survey: one student shared this reponse to the question, “Are there things you don’t like about DiLL?”

“The name. Kids these days need to stop naming their software after food.”

Hmm.... Good point. I will be sure to share this feedback with the Swift Education Team who developed this product:).

Now that the whole school is 1:1, we have started the process of going wireless with DiLL for the 2015-16 SY, which will make all of HHS a DiLL "lab."

We will update you on "liberating" learning with DiLL from the four walls of a language lab sometime over the next school year. We are also talking to educators other schools in the district about ways they can benefit from using DiLL (including ways to build reading proficiency in younger students, speech therapy, and more).

Thanks again to HEF for the organization's generous support of the Hopkinton Public Schools!

Digital Age Parenting Resources & Reading

by Colleen Worrell, Secondary Technology Integration Coordinator

As a follow up to our Google for Parents workshop, I wanted to share a few resources that help to address some of the questions participants raised about “digital-age parenting.”

Cyberwise is a good “go to” site for parents. Their logo says it all: “No Grownup Left Behind.”

A recent blog post on their site, “What is a Modern Parent,” addresses the impact of the internet and smartphones on parenting and family life today. The post includes information on an app (of course!) called Copilot Family that claims to be “an easy to use tool to help you manage your children's smart phones and tablets.” I have not checked this out by thought I’d include the link here for parents who are interested in learning more.

Parents might also want to take a few minutes to watch the Cyberwise video, "What Kids are (Really) Doing Online.”

The Family Online Safety Institute (FOSI) has a Good Digital Parenting section that provides videos, tip sheets, resources, blogs, and more. Part of their mission is research, and this month they released a report entitled “Parenting in the Digital Age: How Parents Weigh the Potential Benefits and Harms of Their Children's Technology Use." The full report is long, so I am providing you with a link to the overview report, which has some interesting data: Report Overview.

One interesting statistic from the November 2014 FOSI report: “When weighing the potential benefits and potential harms of their children using electronic devices and being online, the majority of parents (53%) feel that, overall, the potential benefits outweigh the potential harms.”

PBS’s Digital Media: New Learners of the 21st Century provides a great snapshot of how technology and social media can advance the mission of student-centered learning. The show “explores how exceptional educators are increasingly using digital media and interactive practices to ignite their students' curiosity and ingenuity, help them become civically engaged, allow them to collaborate with peers worldwide, and empower them to direct their own learning.”

I hope these resources help to address some of the questions and concerns you might have about family life in the digital age!

"Parenting in the Digital Age" Infographic from http://brighthouse.com/digitalparenting.

"Google It" & Beyond: Google for Parents Workshop at HHS

by Colleen Worrell, Secondary Technology Integration Coordinator

More than 40 parents joined the HPS Learning Technologies staff and our 3 student helpers from the Class of 2017 (Julie Tarantino, Sid Shinde, and Jon Katz) to learn about ways to use Google in their everyday lives.

The goal was to help parents understand that Google is much more than a search engine. By signing up for a Gmail account, Google gives parents access to the same storage, creation, and sharing tools that HHS & HMS students use on a daily basis.

For those of you who could not attend, we wanted to share the slides from the workshop: HPS Google for Parents (Google Slides presentation)

Also, here is the document we created to share resources and help differentiate learning for parents: HPS Google for Parents Workshop Resources (Google Doc)

Any parents who attended the workshop are encourage to complete this survey to provide feedback: Feedback Survey for Google for Parents Workshop (Google Form).

Here is some of the feedback we’ve received so far from parents who completed the survey:

"Wow'd by the turnout!”

“It was put together very well and covered lots of helpful tips.”

We will host another session of the Google for Parents Workshop in early December. Stay tuned for the announcement!

Learning & the Power of Play

by Colleen Worrell, Secondary Technology Integration Coordinator at HHS

Winnie the Pooh just sauntered by my office. An Italian Cafe is set up outside of the Athletic Center. Everyone from Caesar to Elsa is in the house. It’s Halloween at HHS!

Tradition dictates that Seniors not only dress up, but also compete for various prizes -- from scariest to best team effort. The energy and enthusiasm is contagious (okay, and maybe a bit distracting...), and led me to reflect upon the importance of play in our students’ daily lives.

In his book, Play, Stuart Brown, M.D., emphasizes the importance of lifelong play: “Playfulness amplifies our capacity to innovate and to adapt to changing circumstances” (Aran Levasseur, “The Power of Play in Learning” Mind/Shift).

The playfulness on display at HHS today reminds us of the potential games and play have to engage students and transform learning. Digital tools and a 1:1 environment can help facilitate this shift -- but no tech is needed to create quality learning opportunities for our students.

Here are some ways we see teachers integrating play, games, and the “gamification” of learning into students’ daily learning experiences at HHS (with and without technology):

• Rubberband car races in Physics
• Alka Seltzer lab competitions in Chem
• Barbie Bungee Jumping in Math
• Physics “party tricks” lesson activators
• Silk Road and Paper Clip Factory simulations in World History
• 1-minute science videos to open class in Chem (see this blog post on the importance of first few minutes of class and game design)
• “Tech” challenges in Freshman Tech Seminar
• Kahoot in Bio, Wellness, English, and more
• Competitive Debate in US History
• “Speed Dating” in World Languages (using the great DiLL Lab paid for with a HEF grant)
• “Franchocia” election simulation in AP English Language & Comp
• “Telephone” Photo Project in Digital Photography
• “Trick or Treat” review activity in Math (see Ms. Fairbank’s great blog on this!)
• Jeopardy and $25,000 Pyramid for test prep in multiple subjects
• Human Tic Tac Toe review activity in English
• Padlet for creative brainstorming in Art and English

Yes, students will always say that going trick-or-treating is more fun than going to school. But they come away from the experience of school with a lot more than a bag of candy.

For more images from today's Halloween event, see this flickr photo album.

Ashley Wows the Crowd at MassCUE 2014

by Colleen Worrell, Secondary Technology Integration Coordinator at HHS

HHS Senior Ashley Olafsen received a rousing standing ovation for the “Ted” style talk she delivered to educators attending MassCUE 2014, the state’s premiere technology & education conference.

Held in Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, over 1,000 attendees had their backs to the field where the Patriots and Revolution play, and were focused instead on Ashley’s story of how she’s using technology to follow her dreams. She is passionate about building self-confidence in young women in the face of a media industry that makes them feel unattractive and inadequate. 

At age 17 she has not only started a “M.O.V.Ement” to empower and motivate girls through the workshops she facilitates, but also Ashley is harnessing the power of the web to write her first book.

In her MassCUE talk Ashley explained that while new technologies have made it possible for her to get her important message out to a larger audience and connect to experts and activists, it was supportive educators like Mary Ellen Grady at HMS and Kiely Murray and Sarah Ellam at HHS who helped her to find her voice and use it to make a difference in the world.

Here are some of the Tweets that were flying through the twittersphere during and after her talk:

“Blown away by #AshleyOlafsen #massCUE2014 #HopkingtonHighSchool”

“17 yr old Ashley Olafsen will change this world with her message of positive female empowerment - She has "it"!”
“17 yr old Ashley Olafsen addressing #masscue2014 about female self image and confidence. Amazing!”
“Inspiring first TED Talk by Ashley Olafsen”
“Outstanding job! Ashley Olafsen, Senior at Hopkinton High School"
“I think that we will be hearing from Ashley Olafsen in the future. She delivered a great talk.”
“Ashley Olafsen from Hopkinton High School rocked this Ted-Talk at #masscue2014 this morning-standing ovation from the educators here!”
“What an amazing speaker at #masscue2014, Ashley Olafsen! It's so wonderful to see her enthusiasm!!”

Bravo, Ashley!

For more on Ashley’s talk and initiative, visit these resources:

• Ashley’s “Confidence to Create” Video Submission
• Storify Video of Tweets on Ashley's Presentation
• M.O.V.E. website
• M.O.V.E.ment Facebook Page

Digital-Agel Parenting Resources on the Web

by Colleen Worrell, Secondary Technology Integration Coordinator

Massively Open Online Courses, more commonly known as MOOCs (pronounced "moo-ks"), have become a familiar part of the higher education landscape over the past 5+years. They are free, open courses that are meant to both "democratize" education and to allow institutions to promote their "brand." MOOC participants can participate as much or as little as they want, depending on their own learning goals and reasons for enrollment.

While MOOCs are only just starting to have an impact on K-12 education, they have much to offer educators and students, especially at the high school level. High Schools and universities are even starting to use MOOCs to reach out to parents on everything from the college application process to digital citizenship. I wanted to share one course called "Parenting in the Digital Age," which started September 22nd. Enrollment is still open for this free course, so you may want to check it out (click on this link: Parenting in the Digital Age MOOC).

Another great resource for parenting in the digital age is the Cyberwise website. In particular, their video, "What Kids are (Really) Doing Online," is worth watching:

Don't hesitate to get in touch with me (cworrell@hopkinton.k12.ma.us) if you have any questions or need resources or advice on managing family life in the digital age.

Zombies Invade Freshman Tech Seminar!

by Colleen Worrell, Secondary Technology Integration Coordinator

 

The 9th grade students in Freshman Tech Seminar are working hard to fight the zombie threat -- all while having fun building key 21st-century skills (including digital literacy, collaboration, and critical thinking) and honing their “tech” skills.

The first class meeting involved the “technologies” of paper, scissors, and tape with the challenge of building the tallest free-standing paper tower. At the debrief that wrapped up this first tech-challenge students shared their insights on how this activity related to helping them “learn how to learn with technology.” They also commented on how much they enjoyed working in teams.

During session two, Tech Challenge #2 helped students learn about copyright and creating digital posters. Here are some of the posters students created to spread the word about the zombie threat: Zombie Posters.

Tech Challenge #3 asked students to work in pairs to create a 45 second video public service announcement designed to tell their audience how to survive the zombie apocalypse. See one team’s infomercial on survival tactics, which had to be created in 20 minutes using only a bank of images provided by the teacher: Zombies!

All of these activities are preparing students to work on an individual video project, which requires each student to create a short video on an issue or topic relevant to the HHS community. Topics range from the mission of Keep Smilin and volunteering for Project Just Because, to why a Chipotle come to the HHS cafeteria. We will share out their digital creations later this term.

PS: See how preparing for the Zombie Pandemic works in the real world (of Kansas, anyway!): October is Zombie Preparedness Month in Kansas.