It started with a MOOC…

I was chatting to a colleague at lunchtime today about this and it made me realise how incredibly valuable this experience has been for my students. So I had to write about it….

In September 2016 I joined my first MOOC, The Innovator’s Mindset, led by George Couros (@gcouros) and Katie Martin (@KatieMTLC). I had just started my 23rd year of teaching by moving to a new school in a new continent. I questioned my sanity at the time, knowing from experience that studying while working full time is a challenge in itself… without the added stresses of being in a new place. Anyhow, I loved it. As I knew I would. I’ve been professionally active on Twitter for some years now and thrive on the discussions and thought-provoking articles that can be found on there every single day. I digress. This post is not about Twitter. But one last thing on that – I read this years ago on Edna Sackson‘s blog (this post from 2011) and still believe it to be true:

“I believe that teachers who aren’t reading education blogs and furthering their learning by engaging in social media are being left behind.”

Back to the MOOC. Educators from all over the world talking about innovation in education. What’s not to love?

I guess I was secretly hoping that the course would inspire me to be innovative in some way. Coming up with original ideas that no one has had before is hard. Until the notion that innovation is something that is new and better popped up. New might mean brand new, never done before. Or it might mean changing something that already exists. I don’t know if what I am about to write about would be classed as ‘innovative’. What I do know is that it is innovative for MY students. It is new for THEM. It is better for THEM.

It started with a Twitter message from a fellow #IMMOOCer, Annette Lang (@msalang):

And suddenly I was connected to an educator I’d never met. 

On the surface, one might think that there would be no logical or authentic way that Grade 9 and 10 students in the USA could connect with a class of Grade 2 students in Tanzania. 

The problem (which isn’t really a problem) with me is that I have a very hard time saying no. So if someone expresses an interest in working collaboratively with me to try something new, my brain starts sparking. The rational part of me said ‘I’m not sure this could work and do I really have TIME to add something more to my plate?”. The crazy, learning-loving part of me was thinking:

And so our conversation continued…

And there it was.

The way to connect our students.

That was about four weeks ago. A lot has happened since then!

It started with an initial idea that my students could create characters that Annette’s students would then animate. I feel that it has gone much, much bigger and better than that.

Step 1: Annette’s students made a 15-second video asking my students for help! They needed ideas for animation projects.

Step 2: My students worked in pairs to create their own story characters using a graphic organiser.

We shared these with Annette through a Google Drive folder. Here is one example:

Step 3: Annette’s students then took these ideas and created sketches of how they imagined the characters would look. My students were literally squealing when they saw their ideas had become a drawing! Annette’s students also made videos for us, showing us their school. My students were completely enthralled by that.

Step 4: My students gave Annette’s students feedback on the designs. I used the commenting function on the Google doc and typed in the students’ words as they spoke them (this was projected onto our classroom smartboard so they could all see). And the conversations began…

Step 5: My students started to plan their stories. Two pairs went together, making a group of four students collaborating on a story with two characters. Once their plan was in place they began to work on their first draft together. No mean feat for seven- and eight-year-olds! Yet the buzz in my classroom was incredible. My students were completely engaged in writing. They had a purpose. They had a real audience. They would need to be REAL authors. Serious business. It was incredible to watch them all rise to the challenge. Throughout the whole process, from pre-writing to draft, to revising, to editing my students were enthusiastic about what they were doing. They realised how important it was to edit their work well, to ensure the words were spelt correctly and the punctuation was right so that the readers (Annette’s students) would be able to read the stories easily. When publishing they took extra special care in writing the final product. I’ve compiled all the stories here:

Step 6: We also went out around our school campus yesterday and made a video for Annette’s students, giving them a virtual tour of our school.

Step 7: What happens next? Annette’s students read these stories and animate them!! That just blows my mind! What a truly incredible experience for my young learners! I can’t wait to hear the positives and negatives from Annette about how things worked, or didn’t, at her end.

Just doing a very brief initial reflection about how this has gone so far… I think the positives speak for themselves in everything I have written above. But what could have gone better?

1. I wish that our time-zones were just a bit closer so that our students could connect in real time, for example, a Skype chat.

2. I feel that I have been ‘in charge’ too much. What I mean is that it has mostly been driven by Annette and me, rather than the students. Most of the connections have been between the two of us, helping the students to connect, rather than being initiated by them. Having said that, I’m pretty sure that we have met a ton of Language outcomes and the benefits of this experience have surpassed expectations! I feel extremely privileged to have been a part of this learning journey. 

3. My colleague asked me if this project had created a lot more work for me. I really don’t think it did. Uploading student work was fast and easy. Tech is my play. I don’t get stressed about it. It’s ALL good.

Would I embark on something like this again? In a heartbeat.

Bottom line: this experience has made my students’ learning richer, more meaningful, more authentic, more challenging, and more FUN!

MOOC image: http://www.onlinelearningcouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Mooc-1170×500.jpg

Yes, and image: http://www.blankstagestudios.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Yes-and…png

#IMMOOC #2016