Tutorials
The role of the tutorials is to provide a platform for a more intensive scientific exchange amongst researchers interested in a particular topic and as a meeting point for the community. Tutorials complement the depth-oriented technical sessions by providing participants with broad overviews of emerging fields. A tutorial can be scheduled for 1.5 or 3 hours.
Using FREE Mobile Apps to Support Learners Engaging in Synchronous Collaboration
Instructors
|
Elliot Soloway
University of Michigan
United States
|
|
|
|
Brief Bio
For the past 10 years, Soloway’s research has been guided by the vision that mobile, handheld – and very low-cost – networked devices are the only way to truly achieve universal 1:1 in schools – all across the globe. In 2001, the UMich undergraduates selected him to receive the “Golden Apple Award” as the Outstanding Teacher of the Year. In 2004 and in 2011, the students of the EECS College of Engineering HKN Honor Society awarded Elliot the “Distinguished Teacher of the Year Award.”
|
|
Cathleen Norris
University of North Texas
United States
|
|
|
|
Brief Bio
Cathie’s 14 years in K-12 classrooms – and receiving Dallas’ Golden Apple Award – has shaped her university research agenda: helping K-12 teachers move into the 21st century. Cathie has been President of the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), the leading international organization for technology-minded educators, and the President of the National Educational Computing Association (NECA), the association that organized NECC, the premier conference on technology in K-12.
|
Abstract
Collaboration is a key 21st century skill. But, except for the Google Docs Editor – which is not appropriate for K-5, if not 6-8) – software has not provided explicit support for students collaborating synchronously. Enter the FREE WeCollabrify suite of productivity apps for iPads and Android tablets! WeWrite, WeMap, WeKWL, WeSketch+, WeTimeline, YesWeKahn are all collabrified and support students working together—and verbally talking together – in real time – whether face-to-face in a classroom, or when the students are not co-located (e.g., each is home at his/her kitchen table).
The scaffolding provided by the WeCollabrify suite of collabrified apps engenders discourse patterns such as questioning or narrating, patterns that are understood to be the hallmarks of good collaborative behavior. The choice of collabrified tool depends on the nature of the task that is undertaken, e.g., WeKWL could be used for initial brainstorming and for reflecting, while WeSketch+ can be used to support drawing an animation of a scientific (or mathematical!) process.
No one has to learn alone anymore! If a student is stuck or confused while using WeTimeline, for instance, he/she can initiate a collaborative session in WeTimeline and invite a peer to join the timeline and engage in a verbal conversation. YesWeKahn supports children watching a Khan Academy video or a flipped classroom video together while talking together and making notes.
Teachers and students, from Michigan to Georgia, from Massachusetts to California, from the U.S. to Singapore, who are using the WeCollabrify suite of apps are finding them to be powerful tools for learning in general, and for collaborative learning in particular. In our presentation, we provide concrete examples from classrooms using the WeCollabrify tool suite – lesson ideas and tools that you can use in your classroom tomorrow!
Outline:
• Describe research support for the value of learners developing collaboration skills 2 mins
• Describe what productive collaboration sessions look like – show discourse snippets 2 min
• Describe WeCollabrify suite of collabrified apps (WeWrite+, WeMap, WeKWL, WeSketch+, etc.) 8 mins
• Use each of the collabrified apps; use sample lessons from real classrooms! Science, language arts, elementary and middle school. 30 mins
• Show short video clips of students engaging in productive collaboration as they use WeCollabrify apps 2 mins
• Describe how educators can download and install WeCollabrify on their devices and put up the schedule of regularly schedule webinars that IMLC (Intergalactic Mobile Learning Center at UMich & UNT) offer for teachers to learn how to use the WeCollabrify apps 1 mins
• Question and Answer Session 15 minutes