Favorite tools for schools

If you are reading this blog post, chances are you do not need to be convinced students should be creating projects and products to showcase acquisition of content knowledge. And you probably already have a pedagogical model you use for infusing technology seamlessly into the curriculum to enhance teaching and learning. It may be SAMR, Bloom’s Revised Digital Taxonomy, the Texas Teacher STaR Chart, TPACK, the ISTE Student and Educator Standards, some other local model, or, my favorite, the TECH model by Jen Roberts shown below.

In this blog post, I will be sharing some of my (current) favorite creation tools with you. I use all platforms of devices, so I am going to share apps that run on many platforms, and some that just run on one. I am a believer of using the best tool/app for the job, and encourage schools to adopt a single platform for all, but give students access to devices on other platforms, too. The best tool may not be available on the adopted platform. For instance, if you are a Chromebook district, have some carts of iPads available for student use. And, if you are primarily a Windows district, consider buying iMacs or MacBooks and running Windows in Bootcamp. This gives students access to the powerful, stand-alone tools that come with both Mac computers and Windows computers. Again, we want them to have the right tool available for their need.

MY FAVORITE TOOLS

Podcast Creation: Anchor

Anchor is an easy-to-use podcast creation tool. It is available as an online tool, an iOS app, and from the Google Play store. Once you create an account, you receive your personal Anchor page, which followers can visit to listen to your podcasts. In addition, you get the RSS feed of your podcast, which allows you to register it is with a podcast aggregator, like iTunes, and followers can then subscribe and automatically receive any new podcasts you post.

There are several other cool features of Anchor. Listeners can send you a short audio response to your podcast which you can moderate and decide whether or not you want to share it with the public. You can even invite a distant guest via their cell phone to record the podcast with you. In addition, once you have the podcast created, you can embed it on your blog, share it with social media, and re-use parts of podcasts for future podcasts. And all of this is for free!

Desktop Publishing: Canva

I am graphically-challenged. It takes me a long time to design a business card, an invitation, a Facebook or blog header, posters, flyers, brochures, and labels. Luckily for me, there is a wonderful online tool called Canva which provides me with tons of templates and backgrounds and icons to use to create professional looking graphics. (There are tons of assets in Canva for free, but you can subscribe to Canva to take advantage of some of the advanced features and have access to more assets.) They also have a teacher and student version which you should try out first!

The image below includes all the types of graphics you can make with Canva. And you can also start from scratch with a blank canvas and design whatever you want! It is available as an online tool, an iOS app,  Android app and is in the Chrome store. I know you cannot read the tiny type below (you can click on the image), but, suffice it to say, templates are included for resumes to restaurant menus and everything in-between! (.) You can also upload your own graphics to Canva to use in your creation and purchase some great content assets from Canva for $1 each.

Virtual Reality Viewing: Ricoh Theta App

For those of you with access to Cardboard-compatible headsets and devices for student viewing of 360° images, or handheld tablets with no headsets, I recommend installing the Ricoh Theta app on those devices, which is available for iOS and Android. You can then put VR images or videos in a Dropbox or Google Drive folder, share the URL with the students, and they can then download the images to the device they are using. The Ricoh Theta app can open items that are in the Photos or Gallery on the devices. (You do not have to have a Ricoh Theta 360° camera to download and use the app.)

What is special about the Ricoh Theta app is the ability to pick the way you want to view the image. When you open the image, you can just use your finger to swipe around and see all aspects of the image, which is called the “Normal screen”. You can pick “VR view (twin lens)” to get the split image you would need to view the image with a Cardboard-compatible headset. To have the students feel more immersed in the image without using headsets, you can have them use the “VR view (single lens)” on a tablet or smartphone. With this view, they stand up and rotate their body in a circle and they feel as if they are at the site where there image was taken.

Check out the screen recording below that I made on the iPhone to show the three different views.

UTILITY APP: RotateNFlip (iOS)

When I used the screen-recording tool on the iPhone to shoot the demo video above, the resulting video came out in sideways in portrait mode and there is no way to flip a video in edit mode on the iPhone, like you can with an image. With the RotateNFlip app, I was able to get the landscape-shot video into landscape mode and upload it. It is well worth the 99 cents it costs!

Next month’s blog post (October 18) will cover video creation, curation, and sketchnoting tools, while November’s post will include my favorite presentation, animation, and infographic creation tools. I will also provide you with quick overviews of some other utility tools I like to use for specific types of work.

What tools or apps do you have students using for podcasting, graphic creation, and VR viewing? Share on Twitter and include links to some example projects, too! #kathyschrock

Plan your work, work your plan

There are many technology devices in your classroom — from computers to tablets to VR headsets. No matter what hardware and software your students are using in the classroom, I feel the planning process is most important component of infusing technology meaningfully into teaching and learning.

STEP 1: Sound pedagogy

Take a look the pedagogical models that can help you out both in the planning process and the development of assessments. Some of these include those that allow students to utilize the higher-order thinking skills of Bloom’s Revised and Digital Taxonomies (analyzing, evaluating, and creating), target the transformational levels of SAMR, provide them with more choice as outlined in the TECH model, have them think carefully about the relationship between pedagogy and technology as included in the TPACK model, and cover the important standards proposed in the ISTE Standards for Students. Just pick the one you feel is most meaningful and useful to you and stick to it. If you try to cover too many things, you will be overwhelmed!

My favorite pedagogical model for technology infusion is Jen Robert’s TECH model.

STEP 2: Cognitive skills questions

Next, there are some cognitive skills questions to ask yourself as you begin the search for the perfect apps or tools for students to use for designing, producing, and creating.

Does the app or tool help the learner:

• Construct designs
• Generate possibilities
• Compose ideas
• Propose hypotheses
• Brainstorm solutions
• Design products
• Produce solutions
• Assemble plans
• Re-arrange operations

STEP 3: Purpose of the tool/app

When deciding on the use of technology as part of a unit, you should next consider the purpose of the app or online tool.  Is it intended to provide additional curriculum content for the student, or is the goal  for the student to create a product to showcase acquisition of content knowledge? The process of evaluating a site, app or tool is different in each case.

Additional curriculum content

When considering apps/tools/sites to provide additional curriculum content for the student, you will want to think about:

• Curriculum connection
  • Are the skills reinforced connected to targeted skills/concepts?
• Authenticity
  • Are skills practiced in an authentic format/problem-based environment?
• Feedback
  • Is feedback specific and result in improved student performance?
• Differentiation
  • Does the app/tool offer flexibility to alter settings to meet student needs?
• User friendliness
  • Can students launch and navigate within the app/tool independently?
• Student motivation
  • Are students motivated to use the app/tool and select it to use often?
• Reporting
  • Is assessment/summary data available electronically to the student and teacher?
• Sound
  • Do the music and sounds in the tool/app add to the educational aspects of the content?
• Instructions
  • Are the included instructions helpful and at the correct reading level for the student?
• Support page
  • Does the app’s or tool’s supporting Web page provide additional useful information?
• Navigation
  • Does the app/tool use a touchscreen effectively throughout its use?
• Modalities
  • Are multiple versions of instruction, such as text, visuals, and audio, included?

A expanded list and interactive form to help you evaluate curriculum-based apps may be found here for iOS and Android.

Creation process

When considering tools and apps to support the creation process, the list of criteria is different.

Does the app/tool allow students to:

• Import a project from the computer version of the software
• Screencast the creation process as they are creating
• Record a soundtrack with the microphone on the computer/tablet
• Insert sounds, music, or photos located on the device into the creation
• Export, email, upload, embed, or network-share the final creation
• Collaborate in real-time with others to develop the product
• Utilize a browser-based version of the tool in addition to the app
• Use touchscreens effectively to draw, develop, type, and manipulate items
• Access written instructions or tutorials (at the correct reading level) within the app/tool
• Provide various modalities of instructions, such as written, visual, and oral
• Visit a supporting Web page which provides additional information

An expanded list and interactive form to help you with evaluating creation apps may be found here for iOS | Android |Online Tools

Step 4: Online resources

When providing students with online sites and resources, there are also a number of items you should think about.

Some of these include —

• What is the reading level of the sites you are listing?
• How can you determine the credibility of the author of the page?
• Is the information free from bias?
• Is the information current?
• Are citations included on the page?
• Do credible sites also link to the page?
• Are the sites easy to navigate?

You might have students conducting the evaluation of the online resource/research sites, too. Here are forms for students in Elementary | Middle | Secondary to use for guidance as they develop their critical evaluation skills.

Different types of online resources also have differing components to evaluate, in addition to the list above.

Online tours (form for tours evaluation)

• Is there an option to take a different path during the tour?
• While taking the tour, is there an option to get back to the beginning?
• Did the tour include links to additional Web sites to enhance the tour?
• Is there a place to leave feedback about the tour?
• Is a virtual reality version of the tour available?
• Does the online tour have educational value?

Podcasts (form for podcast evaluation)

• Are the technical qualities (audio, music, transitions) acceptable in the podcast?
• Is a written transcript of the podcast included?
• Are the speaker(s) in the podcast engaging?
• Is it obvious how to add the podcast to an aggregator like iTunes?
• If the podcast is an enhanced podcast, does the use of visuals enhance the podcast?
• Does the content of the podcast have educational value?

Online  videos (form for video evaluation)

• Does the video seem to be well-planned and organized?
• Do the camera shots in the video vary to make it more interesting to watch?
• If the video includes special effects or music, do they add to the video content?
• Is the vocabulary used by the speaker(s) in the video appropriate for the viewer?
• Is there a transcript of the video included?
• Does the content of the video have educational value?

Online digital story (form for digital story evaluation)

• Is the topic of the story explained or inferred during the story?
• After watching the story, is the purpose of the creation of the story clear?
• Is the information in the story presented in an organized and logical manner?
• If music is included in the story, do it improve the story?
• Does the content of the story have educational value?

You may want to offer students a toolbox of apps/tools they can use or allow them free choice of the way they demonstrate the content they are learning. There are many single-use tools/apps that can be mashed up to create a product and there are also many tools/apps that include many ways to create (like Padlet) or are part of an integrated suite of tools (like the Adobe Spark toolset).

What process do you use to plan effective technology use in the classroom? How you evaluate the tools/apps? Do you allow students free choice? Post your thoughts on Twitter! #kathyschrock

Review of Brenthaven Tred Zip Folio 11

https://brenthaven.com/education/products/tred-zip-folio-11/

Keeping up with cases for all the new devices used in schools is never-ending. But Brenthaven is always on top of things and develops great protective backpacks, custom-fit cases, and sleeves for all types of technology devices used in schools.

They recently sent me their Tred Zip Folio 11 to review. The Tred Zip Folio is intended to be a full-time, protective case for 11" Chromebooks and laptops. The case allows use, charging, storing, and protection for the Chromebook or laptop.











I decided to try something different for this review and made an Adobe Spark Video with my overview of the Brenthaven Tred Zip Folio 11.





With the number of 11" Chromebooks and laptops in the schools needing protection, the Brenthaven Tred Zip Folio would be a great choice for student and faculty use. It is thin enough to fit nicely in a backpack, teacher tote bag, and many charging carts. The ability to add a shoulder strap is handy, but adding a storage pouch for the AC adaptor to the back (available from Brenthaven) would also help ensure users can always keep their devices charged.

The formal specifications and other info on the Brenthaven Tred Zip Folio 11 follow.

• Size: 10.25" H x 14.13" W x 1.50" D
• Weight: 1.1 lbs.
• Ventilation bumpers to dissipate heat
• Non-skid surface on the outside to keep case from sliding while in use
• ID card window
• Screen-clips hold the Chromebook or laptop in place
• Shoulder strap or accessory pouch available

Take a look at the Tred Zip Folio 11 information page, request a free sample, ask about custom embroidery options, or request a quote. You can also write to education@brenthaven.com if you have more questions.

Creative classroom configurations

Take a look at any kindergarten or grade one classroom. There are areas for whole class assembly, quiet reading corners, tables for small groups of students to use for collaborative activities, and carrels for students who need a place to think, write, or record.

I believe all classrooms should have these same components. Besides the research that this type of flexible environment can help promote creativity, many of the office environments of major corporations are also utilizing these varied types of spaces, and our students need to get used to working in them!

RESEARCH

If you need research to support your ideas for a flexible classroom, Melina Uncapher offers insight into the impact noise, light, classroom arrangement,  temperature, and other environmental factors have on student learning and cognition. I found it interesting that changing the lighting in your classroom to blue-light can help students at school but can hinder sleep at home before bed. We often change high school schedules so the students can get more sleep, but perhaps limiting the activities that involve blue-light late in the day, like computer use and texting, could help, too.

Carmen Richardson, an ITS at the Kamehameha Schools in Hawaii, and Punya Mishra, a dean of the Teacher’s College at Arizona State, developed an instrument for identifying if a classroom environment is conducive to creativity. ISTE’s Empowered Learner publication outlined the components.

First, a physical environment is necessary that offers flexible work areas for students and a multitude of resources, like this 2nd grade classroom of Alisha Knapp, a teacher in Dunlap CUSD 323 in Peoria County, IL. http://mrsknappsclassroom.weebly.com/blog/flexible-seating-update

Secondly, a classroom that is conducive to creativity is one that is messy and noisy, has students actively participating in discussions, allows for collaboration, and is one in which different points of view are valued.

The authors’ final component of a classroom conducive to creativity is having engaged students who:

• Work at their own pace on open-ended, authentic tasks
• Seek many viewpoints and use different modes of investigation
• Take risks and reflect on their learning
• Have the time to think creatively and develop their ideas

The USC Rossier School of Education created an infographic  to showcase research into many aspects of classroom design and atmosphere that can “set students up for success”.

https://rossieronline.usc.edu/science-of-classroom-design-infographic/

RESOURCES AND INFORMATION

Many years ago (circa 2004), in a presentation, I included a classroom set-up I created to showcase the type of classroom that I felt was needed to take advantage of the infusion of technology into the classroom. Everything was moveable and offered large group, small group, and collaborative spaces.

Since then, many creative teachers have published ideas online that deal with classroom set-up. Some are specifically designed for project-based learning, STEM, collaboration, and creating. However, with the right type of furniture and layout, a classroom can turn into a place where any and all effective types of teaching and learning can take place. Here is a great illustrated article from the Bored Teachers Blog with ideas for flexible classroom set-up!

Chris Johnson wrote an article for Edutopia in which he answered many of the questions teachers might have when considering a flexible space.  The topics covered include:

• How to handle state testing in a flexible classroom
• How to implement it in a small classroom with many students
• How to convince your school administration to do it
• How to pay for the furniture
• How to keep the furniture clean and free of “pests”
• How to make sure you are adhering to local fire regulations

The ISTE Learning Spaces blog includes practical and useful posts to help you implement the move to a flexible and configurable classroom. Some recent posts include:

• Empower students in a collaborative, flexible learning environment 
• 6 ways to personalize learning with flexible seating
• Redesign your learning environment!

Some tips for designing a useful and functional makerspace are offered by Alex Baddock in this article. His ideas include:

• Make sure to have both a clean and dirty space, but keep them separate.
• Don’t forget to calculate the electrical load of all equipment planned for the space
• Build in as much storage as possible
• Try to purchase furniture that is mobile to be able to change the configuration of the room

Diana Rendina journals the process of the development of a makerspace in a school library over a multi-year time period, and created this video overview about the transformation.

The Sassy, Saavy, Simple Teaching blog showcases how another teacher implemented flexible seating in her classroom. There are plenty of ideas and photos. And this article from Smith System, which provides a more in-depth overview from this  same teacher, includes additional information which may be helpful as you begin to think about creating a flexible classroom.  For example, she includes a list of questions you should be prepared to answer from parents. These are:

• What are the benefits of flexible seating?
• How do you select the types of seating and the overall arrangement?
• How do kids get to decide their spot?
• How often will they rotate among choices?
• How do you keep kids focused if they’re not sitting uniformly?
• How will this arrangement work with testing?
• Will you keep any traditional desks and chairs?
• What happens if my child can’t handle the nontraditional set-up?

FEEDBACK

Have you implemented a custom configuration or flexible seating in your classroom? Let us know on Twitter how you did it, the cool DIY items you included to save costs, and anything else you want to share! #kathyschrock

Digital storytelling PD workshop

WHY I LOVE DIGITAL STORYTELLING

I love digital storytelling for many reasons. The first is the research that supports teachers using storytelling to teach. The research states, when listening to stories, many areas of the brain are activated and we search for personal connections to our previous experiences, which then leads us to learn and retain the content more easily So why not use storytelling to teach content?

If you need information and ideas for how to tell get the point across to students and tell a tory well, there are some great resources available. Amy Yorke and Molly Brennan have some useful tips on The Scholarly Teacher Blog.

Here is a quick overview of their tips.

• Use what they use: Use social media to tell your stories to meet the students where they “live”
• Be purposeful: Make your students understand the purpose of you telling the story. Include a contextual introduction to the story and a summarizer to help students link what they heard their current knowledge.
• Be clear and succinct: Keep the story short.
• Practice makes perfect: Practice the story a few times to make sure you are comfortable with it.

The second reason I love digital storytelling is, when creating a digital story, students are using all types of skills that we want them to acquire, as well as showcasing their acquisition of content knowledge! The Educational Uses of Digital Storytelling site from the University of Houston outlines some of these.

• Digital Literacy: the ability to communicate with an ever-expanding community to discuss issues, gather information, and seek help
• Global Literacy: the capacity to read, interpret, respond, and contextualize messages from a global perspective
• Visual Literacy: the ability to understand, produce, and communicate through visual images
• Technology Literacy: the ability to use computers and other technology to improve learning, productivity, and performance
• Information Literacy: the ability to find, evaluate and synthesize information

I would also add that students have to be creative and learn how to communicate their story to an intended audience, as well as reflect on the process.

The third reason I love digital storytelling is that it is content-neutral. Digital stories can be used across the curriculum as a formative or summative assessment. I believe it is one of the best ways for students to show their content knowledge.

So, with all these great advantages of digital storytelling, I wanted to share a sample professional development workshop with you. Feel free to edit it as you wish to make it your own. I believe it is  important teachers practice with digital storytelling so they understand the concept before using it for a student assessment. In addition, they can create exemplars to show to students or use as unit introductions!

DIGITAL STORYTELLING PD WORKSHOP

This workshop would be a 2-3 hour workshop with two created projects. Both use the Adobe Spark suite which works on laptops and Chromebooks and iOS. The online suite of the Post, Page, and Video tools are integrated. On the iPad, there are separate apps for each tool that need to be downloaded. Adobe’s Education Exchange provides a great introduction to the Adobe Spark suite and the Education Exchange also includes tons of lessons from teachers who use the tools.

To prepare for the workshop, send out a link to the online tools and apps and have users create accounts and download what they need. Also, create a shared workshop document or Padlet where participants can share their project URLs. In addition, I have tons more digital storytelling resources on my Kathy Schrock’s Guide to Everything site.

PART 1: LEARNING OBJECTIVES FOR THE WORKSHOP

• Engage learners in designing and creating media-rich products using technology tools to encourage collaboration and voice.
• Foster and develop competencies and mindsets for productive, innovative, and effective use of digital technologies with students.
• Objectives borrowed and edited from a Rutgers class unit by Joyce Valenza.

PART 2: IMAGE AND TEXT PROJECT

Laptops, Chromebooks, ChromeOS Tablets, Surface Tablets

Online tool: Adobe Spark Post

1. Write a six-word story. (Here are the instructions!)
2. Open Adobe Spark Post and create an account.
3. Pick a template, change it, use a photo from the Adobe Post collection or from Discovery Education Streaming’s image collection for a background that represents your story. (My sample) Don’t forget to note the URL of the image you use.
4. Type your 6-word story on the image.
5. Type the citation to the image in smaller type on the Post. You may want to use http://bit.ly to shorten the URL.
6. Share the created image via the LINK option, pick “publish options” to pick a category, and the 6-word story will be live.
7. Copy the URL and add it to a shared workshop tool page titled Adobe Spark Post with your initials.

iOS Devices

iOS app: Adobe Spark Post

1. Write a six-word story. (Here are the instructions!) (My sample)
2. Open the Adobe Spark Post app and pick a template to edit or click the green + sign to start from scratch.
3. Find an image by searching in Adobe Post or in Discovery Education Streaming’s image library (save it to your Camera Roll and update it into Post) to represent your quote. Don’t forget to note the URL of the image
4. Using the text tool, put the URL of the image in small type, in the bottom right-hand corner of the image. (Use http://bit.ly to shorten the URL)
5. Add your 6-word story to the image.
6. Save the completed image to the Camera Roll and/or pick LINK and either attach the image to an entry on the shared workshop tool page or share the URL from the iPad’s clipboard. Don’t forget to put your initials and title the entry Adobe Spark Post.

PART 3: VIDEO STORY PROJECT

Laptops, Chromebooks, ChromeOS Tablets, Surface Tablets

Online tool: Adobe Spark Video

1. Write the script for your story
2. Find 6-10 Creative Commons-licensed images by using the Creative Commons search in either Google or Flickr and pick images that are licensed for re-use with attribution. You are going to “tell a story” in a unit you teach, i.e. the invasion of Normandy, places a character in a book visited, the history of the personal computer, the evolution of infectious diseases, etc. Save these images to the desktop or in an online file storage site.
3. Make sure to keep track of the URLs of the images you use for citing later.
4. Open the Adobe Spark Video tool and create an Adobe account if you have to.
5. Skip the first prompt to tell about your story. Pick a template to use or start from scratch.
6. Create a video by uploading the images in order and creating a voice narration behind each one, telling the story. You can pick background music that matches the tone of your story if you want to.
7. Make sure the last slide includes the text of the citations of the photos you used.
8. When you are done, pick SHARE and enter the information requested. Be sure to tap CREATE LINK to copy the link to your finished story.
9. Copy the URL and add it to a shared workshop tool page titled Adobe Spark Video with your initials.

iOS Devices

iOS app: Adobe Spark Video

1. Write the script for your story.
2. Find 6-10 Creative Commons-licensed images by using the Creative Commons search in either Google or Flickr and pick images that are licensed for re-use with attribution. You are going to “tell a story” in a unit you teach, i.e. the invasion of Normandy, places a character in a book visited, the history of the personal computer, the evolution of infectious diseases, etc. Save these images to the desktop or in an online file storage site.
3. Make sure to keep track of the URLs of the images you use for citing later.
4. Open the Adobe Spark Video tool and create an Adobe account if you have to.
5. Hit the plus sign to create a video. You can pick a template to use or start from stratch.
6. Create a video by uploading the images in order and creating a voice narration behind each one, telling the story. You can pick background music that matches the tone of your story if you want to.
7. Make sure the last slide includes the text of the citations of the photos you used.
8. When complete, pick the share button and “copy link to clipboard. You can also pick to “save to camera roll”.
9. Copy the URL and add it to a shared workshop tool page titled Adobe Spark Video with your initials.

PART 4: REFLECTION

After the two projects are complete and some have been shared with the group, have the participants do a large group reflection on the following questions. Make sure someone is scribing in the shared Google Doc or Padlet.

1. What are some different types of digital stories and the components of each? (A personal narratives, a story to inform/instruct, a story to document an event)
2. How can digital storytelling be used as a student assessment?
3. How does one assess a digital story?
4. What other types of tools can students use to create digital stories and why?
5. What are the challenges to utilizing digital storytelling in my educational environment and what are some practical solutions to overcome these challenges?
6. What do I need to learn about the process of digital storytelling so I can help my students with their stories?

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Do you have ideas or other methods to teach teachers how to create digital stories? Do you have teacher-created samples to showcase? Please share on Twitter! #kathyschrock

My new friend, Cue!

I have had the chance to use Wonder Workshop's Dot, Dash, and Cue robots at various conference sessions. But these sessions were always guided by the presenter, so I never really got a chance to explore how to code with the robots.

I was so excited when Wonder Workshop send me a Cue of my very own! I had the time to explore the many options, learn how to code with the block option and compare it to the Javascript code, and play some interactive games with my new friend!

The Cue has a fun personality which makes it feel like a true AI robot! Actually, there are four personalities to pick from, and each has its own special conversational style. The Cue is targeted for students in middle school. However, with the block programming, upper elementary students could easily control the robot, and, with the javascript programming, Cue would provide enhanced practice with an actual programming language for high schoolers.

The technical components of the Cue robot are outlined on the Wonder Workshop information page. Some of these include:

• An accelerometer and gyroscope
• 3 proximity sensors
• Real-time Bluetooth
• IR robot interaction
• 3 processors and a sensor function
• Dual motors and potentiometers
• 3 microphones and a speaker
• Programming LED and buttons
• 2 powered wheels and encoders

All of those components make for a very powerful programmable robot, but the fun factor of my friend Cue is the part I like best! 

You can record words and sounds for Cue to emit (my son made it burp, of course) and and the ability to use easy block programming made it simple for me to control.

There are some options that are coming soon to Cue including Apple Swift™ programming, detection of the direction of a voice, and the ability to be aware of the proximity of other nearby Cue robots.

Sketch Kit

The actual reason Wonder Workshop sent me my new best robot friend was for me to check out their new Sketch Kit. The Sketch Kit is an accessory for Dash and Cue. It includes a harness for the robot to hold a marker, six colored markers, and six project cards to help students practice using the Sketch Kit to draw. The Sketch Kit allows students to code Dash or Cue to draw a picture!

In addition, there is a large Whiteboard Mat available which allows students the ability to iterate their design and erase the false starts. (The Sketch Kit and Whiteboard Mat can be purchased together in the Sketch Pack.) The markers include in the Sketch Kit are whiteboard markers, but I can see students completing their final drawing on a thick white piece of paper from a roll of plotter paper, for displaying of their artistic creations on the walls in the school hallway! 

Sketch Pack photo courtesy of Wonder Workshop

The Wonder Workshop site includes a great blog post explaining how to set-up the Sketch Kit with some tips and tricks included. Their site also includes lessons in their education curriculum such as, "Using Sketch Kit with Cue: The Geometry of Mandalas" and "Using Sketch Kit with Dash: Robot Code Breakers", based on Alan Turing and the codebreakers of WWII.

I did not read the blog post on the Wonder Workshop site first, but had no trouble setting up the Sketch Kit and Whiteboard Mat. The directions included in the Sketch Kit box were easy to follow! And, as I said at the beginning of this blog post, I wanted time to experiment on my own!

Now, remember, I am new to both block programming and the Sketch Kit when you watch the video below. I am sure I will get a lot more creative once I have some practice, but I felt good about my first drawing!

The Sketch Pack can be used in many curriculum areas to embed the STEAM skills in all the content areas. It is not just about the coding, but about the design thinking process where students plan, test, iterate, and reflect. Some ideas include:

• In math, students could draw the three types of triangles. The pen can be programmed to go up and down, so Cue could be coded to move to a new space on the Whiteboard Mat to draw each triangle.
• In social studies, it would be fun to draw a state outline, a rendition of a historic building, or the path of the Appalachian Trail.
• In science, students could guesstimate the end of the path of a object when ramps are differing heights, since the mat is broken into centimeter areas. They could then roll the balls right onto their drawing on the Mat to test their hypotheses.
• In ELA, students could illustrate the theme of a short story or a book.
• And, of course, the Sketch Pack would be a natural fit in the art room!

Take a look at both the Dash and the Cue on the Wonder Workshop education site and consider getting a Sketch Pack to add another level of creativity to the coding process!

One way to put the A in STEAM

The NGSS  document is full of standards which begin with the phrase “students will create a model to illustrate”.  We customarily think of a model as something three-dimensional, like a diorama, a 3-D printed object, or a SketchUp creation. However,  the dictionary also states it can be a “system or thing used as an example to follow”.  So, can a hand-drawn or digitally-drawn project be considered a model? I believe it can!

I have discussed the student creation of infographics and sketchnotes in previous blog posts, and use of those two types of instructional models works well for students to help them both retain content and demonstrate acquisition of knowledge. However, there is research that specifically supports the use of drawing techniques to help students learn science concepts, too!

RESEARCH

Ainsworth, Prain, and Tytler, in their article, Drawing to Learn in Science, which appeared in the AAAS Science journal on August 26, 2011, outline their “five reasons why student drawing should be explicitly recognized alongside writing, reading, and talking as a key element in science education”.

1. Drawing enhances engagement, and, when students draw during instruction, they are more more motivated to learn
2. Drawing teaches students to represent in science and, by creating their own drawings, students will understand how the inclusion of a drawing helps a viewer understand a concept.
3. Drawing to reason in science helps students learn how to identify relevant information from a scientific study.
4. Drawing as a learning strategy and creating a visual representation of information helps students understand the content better.
5. Drawing  can be use to communicate in science. When students create a drawing, they have the ability to explain and summarize it for a peer

Ainsworth, S., Prain, V., & Tytler, R. (2011). Drawing to learn in science. Science, 333, 1096–1097.

Judith Fan, in her article Drawing to Learn: How Producing Graphical Representations Enhances Scientific Thinking, published in Transitional Issues in Psychological Science in 2015, covers the research on how drawing in science interacts and ties-in with the scientific processes of observation, problem-solving, explanation, and communication.

Drawing, in Fan’s paper, is defined as the hand-drawn creation of images which may be maps, graphs, sketches, diagrams, and charts, to name a few. One interesting study compared students who just verbally explained their observations,  others that just drew their observations, and those that drew their observations and received feedback from the instructor on their drawings. Those that drew and received feedback were proven to later have more content knowledge, with the students that just drew their observations coming in second.

As with any process, Fan suggests receiving feedback about drawn observations on a regular basis could help students learn how to develop observational skills of their own, ultimately having any student who just drew their observations (and did not receive feedback) attaining that same level of content knowledge.

Another great point Fan makes is use of a drawing as a formative or summative assessment can help teachers determine misconceptions by the student when reviewing their drawing. In addition, she states students who viewed a formal drawing were more likely to include the correct components in their own drawing. Fan also suggests that tracing over a formal drawing may enhance student content acquisition.

Fan covers the research dealing with the creation of a diagram to solve a problem as part of the scientific process. She states, when combined with other modes of problem-solving, this can aid in the solution of the problem. In addition, if students work in pairs to create the diagram, the pairs “were more likely to come up with abstract principles than students working alone.”.

Fan, Judith E. (2015) Drawing to learn: How producing graphical representations enhances scientific thinking. Transitional Issues in Psychological Science, Vol. 1, No. 2, 170-181.

DRAWING METHODS AND TOOLS/APPS

The research covered above outlines the creation of hand-drawn images on paper. However, with the classroom tools readily available today, we can consider hand-drawn images with a stylus, on a tablet or touch-screen computer, to lead to the same enhanced content acquisition.

Fan suggests that tracing an already-created image or diagram can help students learn and remember the information when creating their own hand-drawn image. Tony Vincent traces many types of formal images and diagrams using his iPad and the Adobe Illustrator Draw app. Although he is not specifically talking about science in this video, his process is a great one for students to use. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZky6dnq3PI)

TRACING TOOLS AND APPS

There are many other drawing tools that would allow the student to draw on a separate layer above the background of  a digital version of the formal scientific diagram.  Of course, it is important to have a touchscreen and a stylus available for the students if they are expected to be tracing or drawing scientific concepts. Here are some no-cost tools and apps that can be used for tracing.

• Pixlr Editor (Online; requires Flash)
• Muro (Online)
• Sketchpad 5.1 (Online)
• Speedpaint (Online)
• Adobe Photoshop Sketch (iOS)
• Inkist (iOS)
• Adobe Illustrator Draw (iOS & Google Play)
• PaperOne (Google Play)

DRAWING TOOLS AND APPS

When students start to create their drawings from scratch, there are literally hundreds of hand-drawing apps and online tools available.  Here are some of my favorites that are no-cost and cross-platform. (And, of course, any of the apps/tools in the tracing list above may be used, too!)

• ABCYA.com Paint and Draw (Online)
• Autodraw (Online)
• Drawisland (Online)
• Pixiclip (Online)
• Bamboo Paper (iOS & Google Play)
• iNKredible (iOS and Google Play)

COLLABORATIVE DRAWING TOOLS

Since the research has shown that pairs of students creating a diagram is be very effective in leading to a better image, using online tools such as the ones below to allow students to work together in real time to create the product.

• AWW: A Web Whiteboard (Online)
• Realtime Board (Online)
• Stoodle (Online)
• Google Drawings (Online)

How can you see hand-drawing used in your classroom? Let the rest of us know a grade and subject where you think drawing would have a big impact.  Please share on Twitter! #kathyschrock