Games! Photo by Declan (TM) retrieved from Flickr. Used under Creative Commons license.
With technology seeping into most every aspect of life, it is important to take a step back and evaluate what are the best, most appropriate applications in your professional and personal life. How much technology is too much? Does a game/program enhance how a particular topic is conveyed? Can games induce excitement about certain content?
In September 2012, Edudemic, in partnership with Knewton, posted an article titled, The 100-Second Guide To Gamification In Education.Gamification is becoming a growing trend in which games are introduced as a teaching tool to supplement the delivery of core curriculum. Therefore, the question remains, if over 5 million people play games more 45 hours a week, what elements of gaming can be cultivated for education? As a follow-up to this article, this month Edudemic posted 25 Things Teachers Should Know About Gamification.
Here are three points made in the full article;
#11. Gamification is designed with the assumption that players aren’t initially interested. This means games are exciting and engaging enough to capture the attention of an uninterested student and carry them through to the end.
#16. One goal of Gamification in the school setting is to allow kids to be creators of their own knowledge, allowing the teacher to be an assistant to the child’s learning journey.
#18. Gamification models are being used in other educational settings as well, such as job trainings and seminars.
This week CMLE interviewed Nancy Lorentz, Media Specialist at Becker High School. We offer this best practice under our Strategic Focus Area of Stretching Dollars!
Becker High School TechSquad Representatives
We have all seen the commercials for the Minnesota based company Best Buy and their trendy and beloved “Geek Squad” on television. These seemingly knowledgeable computer support teams are available on-site and on-line to help answer questions and trouble shoot technology woes.
Nancy Lorenz is overseeing a no cost/low cost technology solution to stretch her library dollars. Her squadron of savvy tech support is being culled from the classroom. In 2011, Becker added 900 iPads to their inventory in preparation of the launch of a 1:1 iPad Initiative. Nancy began searching for assistance from among the high school student body through National Honor Society’s Facebook page and the current Student Teaching Assistants (TAs). The students focused on trouble shooting ways to synch large numbers of iPads, research and learn about educational apps and finally, inventory, label and distribute equipment. Since then, Nancy has developed a course for the “TechSquad” assigning tasks such as creating iPad specific tutorials about set-up, apps, and programs. They have now morphed into providing software updates, troubleshooting air printing issues; and assisting with email, writing work orders, inventorying equipment and performing basic maintenance. Bringing this service front and center, this coming year Nancy will designate a corner in the Media Center as an iPad help desk, staffed in the afternoon by the student TechSquad.
Nancy responds to our questions:
Q: What are the qualifications to become a member of the TechSquad-STAC? We are expanding the TechSquad/TA model into STAC (Student Technology Advisory Committee) which will be grades 6 – 12, beginning this spring headed by Ryan Cox, our district technology coordinator. I chose sophomores and juniors from former and current TechSquad kids.
Q: Do you limit the number of students?
The high school has ten members on STAC – one junior, three sophomores and six freshmen. I chose more of the younger students because they are more excited and have more time than the older students. We used the school’s History Day projects to identify freshmen that showed the greatest interest in technology.
Q: How is their time compensated?
We plan to allow the STAC students to keep their iPads through the summer so that they can come up with new and awesome ways to use it for education. When they come in during the summer to help with iPads we will pay them with pizza and flavored water.
Q: Do students receive on the job training? I do my best to train my TechSquad and TAs to behave professionally when working in the media center. It is important that they never make another student feel stupid for asking for help. I have a Moodle site for my TechSquad that I plan to turn into an actual course when I have time. I’m not sure that all of the current freshmen STAC members will work in the media center as TechSquad or TAs, as some may not have time in their schedules. I’m hoping that when it all shakes out, those students who we choose for STAC will take the TechSquad independent study class at least once per year. Regardless, we will meet with them once per month after school, and they will come in to help when needed in the summer.
Q: What was/were the motivating factor(s) that contributed to the school’s/district’s decision to solicit help with technology from students? Our district had actually cut four of my ten extra days the summer we received the iPads and did the same for our tech assistants and media assistants. We had no other choice but to have students help – we are still fighting to get enough tech hours to handle the extra work the 1:1 brings. I only see the TechSquad class growing.
Q: How has the program helped your library specifically? I think having student workers in the library has made it more welcoming – kids think it’s cool to work in the library, and I am getting plenty of great students who want to belong to the TechSquad or work as TAs.
Q: Final thoughts!
I’m hoping that, moving forward, these students will be trained to provide tech assistance to teachers as well as other students. I have had TechSquad students go into classrooms and demonstrate iMovie for specific projects – I would like that aspect of the program to grow.
Becker High School Tech Squad Representatives
Technology is similar to sports in that it reaches across disciplines. Think of how this can continue to enhance your relationships with teachers across subject areas.
Tip: Identify possible programs for you to engage students in your media center. Seek out distinctive ways to spotlight technologically savvy students in your schools (name tags, locker signs, personalized attire, dedicated section in the school yearbook, etc.) to ignite participation from the student body.
Fun Fact: Did you know that Geek Squad employees are referred to as “agents” and assigned titles similar to those used by intelligence agencies, i.e. Counter Intelligence Agent (CIA). Their uniforms are also indicative of investigative professionals (white sleeve shirt, logo pin, black shoes, etc.)
Minnetonka High School has fully integrated all 9th and 10th grade students with iPads. By expanding this initiative to include students in grades 8 and 11, it will bring their total number of 1:1 participants to more than 3,100 students.
Is your school thinking about developing a 1:1 initiative? Consider attending the 1:1 iPad Technology Institute on Friday, June 28th from 8:00-3:00 pm hosted by the Minnetonka Institute for Leadership. By attending this institute you will gain an inside look at how-to approach the 1:1 process on everything from planning, budgets, communications, training, etc. The presenters will include district staff and teachers. And, lets not forget about the students (end-users) who will have opportunities to share their experiences throughout the day.
If you register for this institute before Friday, May 31st the cost is $139. Click here to register or learn more about this opportunity.
The Edcamp Foundation was formed in December 2011 to assist teachers and other stakeholders in organizing edcamps. The vision of the Edcamp Foundation is to “promote organic, participant-driven professional development for K-12 educators worldwide.”
What is an edcamp? It is a low-cost/free user-generated conference designed to promote professional development for K-12 educators. Edcamps operate without keynote speakers or vendor booths. Sessions are planned the day of the event, as participants volunteer to be presenters on a topic of their choosing. This process encourages attendees to join or lead a peer conversation that meets their professional needs and/or interests. Technology is a common area of interest along with pedagogy and practical examples in instructional use of modern tools. If you would like to learn more about edcamps, Edutopia recently posted an article (April 2013) titled, Why Edcamps? It provides additional information regarding the basic structure outlined in the edcamp model and highlights what makes these events unique to other conferences. Click here to read the full article.
Would you like to participate? Educamp is coming to the Twin Cities on October 12th. Click here to learn more about this Minnesota event.
If you have participated in one of the more than 250 edcamp events that have occurred over the last 3 years; we would like to hear from you. Feel free to share your experience with our followers in the comment section below!
Infographic released an article (April, 2013) referring to the challenges facing many public libraries today. It starts by identifying the opening of an all digital and technologically advanced library in Texas. Using this as a discussion point, it touches on the role these facilities play in their communities, damaging budget cuts and the shift in patron demand(s) on these providers. Click here to read the full article titled, “The Changing Face of Public Libraries.”
Partnering with libraries for visioning, advocating, and educating
