7 Hábitos de los Docentes que Utilizan las TICs con Éxito

7 Hábitos de los docentes que usan las TIC con éxito¿Por qué a unos docentes la implantación de las TIC les funciona mejor que a otros? ¿Qué hace que algunos/as tengan tanto éxito? ¿Cuáles son sus hábitos y su forma de ver las nuevas tecnologías?  

1. Siempre empiezan por el "por qué"

La tecnología por la tecnología es peligrosa. Los profesores que usan realmente bien la tecnología siempre tienen un motivo para utilizar las herramientas, optimizando el aprendizaje de su alumnado o recurriendo a ellas para ayudarles con la programación didáctica.

2. Son maleables y adaptables

La tecnología está en constante cambio y el entorno del aula puede tornarse diferente de una manera radical en algo menos de dos años. Entender el marco general es la clave.

3. Abrazan el cambio

La mayoría de los docentes que usan la tecnología hoy son innovadores y adoptantes tempranos. Recibir el cambio sin rechazo y lucha es fundamental y es lo único que puede proporcionarnos un progreso real.

4. Comparten, comparten y siguen compartiendo

Las nuevas tecnologías han abierto la puerta para la colaboración fuera de las paredes de los centros educativos. Un profesor en la Cd. México puede colaborar con una profesora en Dallas, Texas. El conocimiento es poder, pero, además, es gratuito (y así ha de ser). Los amantes de las TIC comparten sus buenas prácticas y todos y todas nos beneficiamos.

5. Piensan en ganar-ganar-ganar

Las tecnologías no sirven para nada si no se lleva a cabo una labor constructiva desde las administraciones, familias y profesorado... y por parte de las y los estudiantes. Primero - y lo más importante - no hay nada mejor que tener un equipo directivo en el centro que reciban con entusiasmo las TIC. En segundo lugar, es importantísimo que mostremos a las familias el valor de la tecnología. En tercer lugar, como profesores y profesoras, debemos creer verdaderamente que todos nuestros esfuerzos tienen un impacto real en el aprendizaje del alumnado.

6. Piensan en futuro y van dos pasos por delante

¿Cómo puede ser que vayas a presentaciones sobre desarrollo profesional docente relacionados con las TIC sabiendo que muchos de tus compañeros y compañeras no aceptan los cambios? Los y las docentes que usan la tecnología de un modo efectivo intentan conocer las respuestas a cada pregunta que se les pueda plantear, adelantes, tener ejemplos concretos para mostrar el éxito de sus innovaciones.

7. Activamente cuidadosos y cuidadosas

Son los típicos que no pueden dormir por las noches porque están emocionados ante una innovación concreta, un nuevo plan para su programación didáctica, maneras de enganchar y conectar a sus estudiantes... ¡Preguntándose cómo se las ingeniarán para inspirar a las alumnas y alumnos! No solo son cuidadosos/as, sino también activamente cuidadosos/as: abrazan las TIC no para hacer su trabajo más fácil, sino que porque, además, les asegura una mejor práctica docente.

26 Tips for Teaching with Google Apps

This guide will teach you to be as tech-savvy as your students.  It is meant to acquaint you with Google Apps’ major features and is loaded with best practices and lots of helpful, actionable tips to optimize your investment in Google Apps and improve your students’ learning experience.  It’s appropriate for school IT admins, teachers, principals, and anyone else interested in learning more about Google Apps for education.

Gmail

Using Gmail, you can easily send messages to students & parents.  But you can also combine other Google Apps tools with Gmail to get more out of it.

Tip #1 – Use Google Translate to convert emails to & from non-English speaking parents or between your students and international pen pals.*

*Google Translate is not a tool for learning another language, but can help cut the language barrier between people who speak different languages.

Calendar

Calendar helps keep track of events in an organized way and is accessible to anyone from the desktop or a mobile device.  You can use Calendar in the routine way – for activities, homework assignments, and your class schedule.  You can also use it to set up shared resource calendars for laptops or the library room.

Tip #2 – Instead of running around the building to find out who has the projector you need, check the master projector Calendar right from your desktop.

Tip #3 – Set up pacing guides for your students, allowing parents to remotely schedule parent/ teacher meetings, or developing standards mapping.

Docs

Google Docs can do everything Word (or any other word processing program) can, but it also allows you to share created documents with anyone else on the system you choose.  Group teaching and close communication with students becomes easier with Docs, as does collaboration among students.

Tip #4 – Takes notes at your next school meeting and share them with the other attendees.

Tip #5 – Develop and share collaborative lesson plans with other teachers. Any change made by one of the teachers is instantly available to all the others.

Tip #6 – Develop quizzes and quickly analyze and summarize data from the results.

Tip #7 – Encourage students to work on group projects using Google Docs, so that each student can independently provide their contribution and instantly integrate it into the whole.

Tip #8 - Use shared Docs for student writing assignments to provide quick feedback to help guide them during the process.

Spreadsheets

Google Spreadsheets doesn’t reinvent the Excel wheel. The beauty of it is the same as the other Google Apps components: the ability to virtually share your work with anyone with access to the system.

Tip #9 – Set up a simple Spreadsheet for scheduling parent/teacher conferences (if you decide not to use that feature in Calendar). It’s preferred over the traditional paper version because parents can access the sheet from their Gmail account, see what slots are available, and select the best time for their meeting.

Tip #10 – Use Spreadsheets to track homework assignments, create student-driven vocabulary flashcards, or perhaps even to help students document their science experiments.

Presentations

Google Presentations can be just as impressive as PowerPoint, but again, becomes even more powerful because more than one user can access it.  The phenomenon of fumbling through multiple PowerPoint versions is eliminated.

Tip #11 – For group presentations, have students use Google Presentations so they can create their own slides for their portion of the assignment, then instantly integrate them into the master presentation.

Hangouts

The power of remote access is particularly evident in Google Hangouts, where you can connect with anyone remotely in real-time.

Tip #12 – To give your students a different perspective on the topic you’re covering, invite a guest lecturer to present via Hangouts.

Tip #13 – For particularly busy parents, conduct parent/teacher conferences over Hangouts.

Forms

This tool allows you to quickly create a survey or form that can be sent to parents and students to fill out online. You won’t have to tabulate results; all the answers are immediately collected in a Google Spreadsheet that can then be shared. Forms can be sent outside your school domain, so you’re not limited to just colleagues inside the school. And the result of any forms project are neatly summarized with charts, graphs, bells, whistles and statistics about all your responses.

Tip #14 – Give a pre-assessment test to your students at the beginning of the year to get an idea of the knowledge level of your class. Then do another assessment at the end of each marking period to see how much progress they’ve made.

Tip #15 – Do a quick survey on your students’ interests and try to tie them into your daily work lessons.

Tip #16 – Encourage your students to read more by setting up a form where they can submit their reading records. For example, they can track how many minutes they read each week.

Tip #17 – Create quizzes with Forms and then automatically grade them by using an Apps script like Flubaroo. (more on scripts below)

Sites

Sites is a powerful teaching tool where you can build interactive websites for students to share information and collaborate on documents, videos, schedules, and more.

Tip #18 – Create a Site for your class, including a class calendar with special events and homework assignments. You can add videos and other presentations that tie in with your lesson plans.

Tip #19 – Create a curriculum portal that contains lesson plans and other resources that tie into your day-to-day teaching plan.

Tip #20 – Create e-portfolios for each student. This will allow them to show off their work and develop it from year to year.

Tip #21 – Assign a group project where students need to use Sites to create and consolidate their work.

Groups

Google Groups are online forums and email-based groups that encourage community conversation and discussion among peers.

Tip #22 – Create a Group for your entire class, so students can discuss lessons and materials outside of class.

Tip #23 – Create classroom placement Groups so you can distribute different levels of materials and resources appropriate to each student’s needs.

Tip #24 – Create a Group for your students’ parents so they can easily communicate with each other and share updates and news.

Scripts

This JavaScript Cloud scripting tool enables developers to build more apps to supercharge the functionality of Google Apps for education. There are hundreds of scripts you can use to make your life easier or to enhance the learning experience of the students.

Here are a few:

• Doctopus – This is a document management script to use for student projects. It allows you to auto-generate, pre-share, and manage grading and feedback on group and individual projects.

• Flubaroo – This script allows you to automatically grade multiple-choice or fill-in-the-blank assignments using Forms. It also computes average assignment scores, average score per question, and highlights low scoring questions.

• gClassFolders – Based on Spreadsheets, this add-on creates class folders for students and teachers.

Blogger

Blogger allows you to create free blogs, through which students who enjoy blogging can better engage with the subject matter. They can post opinions and questions, and share posts from other students.

Tip #25 – Encourage improved writing skills by having your students use Blogger, but be sure to prohibit text speak like “brb” and “Cu2moro”.

Moderator

Google Moderator allows you to create a series of discussions, and have people submit questions, ideas or suggestions, then vote on various ideas.

Tip #26 – Use Moderator to encourage students to think about their daily lessons and read each other’s thoughts on the material. Then have them vote on the best responses, and continue the conversation in class.

Conclusion

Google Apps for Education is an incredible platform that is revolutionizing the way teachers teach and students learn. Using the power of interactive, cloud-based technology, school administrators and teachers can now connect with students in an enhanced way.

Social media, online games and the internet dominate student lives outside the classroom. Google Apps for Education allows you to bring that environment into the classroom and make the students’ educational experience more relevant and better mirror their day-to-day lives. It’s a giant leap forward for those who choose to take advantage. Go for it and good luck!

To learn more, check out Mastering Google For the Classroom

10 Commandments of Innovative Teaching

Guest post by  A. J. Juliani

As a new teacher I remember getting into my classroom for the first time. I set up the space like classrooms I had seen before and enjoyed; I got my lesson plans in order; packed the filing cabinets with resources; started to make copies of overhead slides; put together an area for reading and stacked the shelves with books I had picked up in college or from my parents house.

Then the students arrived, and all my plans went out the window. I realized very quickly that the type of teaching I had been exposed to and grew up with, and the type of teaching taught at many undergrad programs…was quickly becoming a past practice. That’s not to say many of the pedagogical and instructional strategies I learned don’t stick with me today (the good ones always will) but these students were different learners than I was…and at the time I was only 22 years old.

After teaching in a nice classroom of my own at the middle school I jumped up to the high school ranks and became a “floating” teacher. We had recently joined the “Classrooms of the Future” movement and every teacher in our district received a Macbook. Many teachers had a cart of 30 Macbooks in their classroom, and every room had a SmartBoard installed. I taught in four separate classrooms and learned to digitally organize my classroom and instruction.

Flash forward eight years and the classrooms look very different in my same school district. In the two years since my district began our 1:1 laptop initiative our classrooms have evolved once more. New technology, new standards, and new content. Throughout this process I have tried my best to stay on top of where education is headed and what are the emerging “next” practices. Now when I talk to teachers in my district and around the country, I try to focus on the key elements of innovative teaching. With technology, standards, and content continually changing…these “innovative commandments” give teachers a starting point regardless of their situation.

1. Innovative teachers must offer choice

Commandment #1 might be the most important. I spent a lot of time as a teacher figuring out new ways to inspire and motivate my students. Sometimes it worked, but often I would fail to reach all of them. Then one day I gave my students choice. Not some “fake choice” assignment where they could pick one topic out of a box of topics…but REAL choice. You know what happened? Students were inspired and motivated to learn by themselves…and by each other. And they did a much better job at inspiring then I ever could. Choice gives students the ability to go above and beyond our curricular limitations…try to give as much choice as possible and watch your students innovate.

2. Innovative teaching allows for failure

Maybe this one should be re-labled “provide growth opportunities”. We learn best after failing. In fact, you should start promoting epic failures in your classroom. Give a round of applause when students fail because now the learning can really begin. This doesn’t work too well with tests…but with projects it is great! If you create a culture where failure is not only accepted, but embraced…your students will not be afraid to challenge themselves.

3. Mentorship comes in all forms

Remember when learning was hard? It took time to find an answer. You had to search the library, ask the right teacher, or find some type of adult of expert who had knowledge and ask for guidance. Today’s learners can find out what a professor at MIT thinks about the future of robots…and we have to be ok that his/her answer if most likely much better than ours ever would be. In the same fashion we have to model to our students where to find the “right answers” to their questions. Their learning mentor could be Google, Siri, YouTube, Udemy, Quora etc. These sites and platforms can connect our learners to better information than we ever had, it would be a shame for us not to show them how to best use it!

4. Technology with a purpose

I recently had a teacher ask me what I thought about Prezi. I told them I really liked it for some uses and then asked them what they were going to use it for… They responded that their students needed to do a presentation and Prezi seemed like a cool new format to present. I agreed. When I dug deeper on the assignment it was short 1-2 minute presentation on a recent medical discovery. While I agreed that Prezi was an awesome tool for presentations…it didn’t make sense for the students to spend time learning a whole new platform and putting together a presentation in Prezi (it takes a while) for this topic.

I suggested them using Haiku Deck because it was super-simple, easy to use, and they could create on any device. Students could then get to their presentation material quicker, and allow for some deeper tasks in the future. My point was use technology with a purpose. And understand which tool (technology) is right for which job (assignment or project). In order to do this you must be informed on what options are out there…or ask a colleague that knows. Don’t waste your time, or your students time by using techn for tech’s sake.

5. Build something together

You know what is so much better than one student working passionately on something they care about? Students collaborative together to build something that matters…to them…and the world (more on that later). How often do you let your students collaborate? I’m not talking about “Think, Pair, Share”. I mean real collaboration where they work through problems together and come up with solutions, and test those solutions, and then debate whether or not they can improve upon that solution… Give them a chance to build something together, and they’ll learn much more than they could learn by themselves.

6. From local to global

When I first did the Flat Classroom Project my students realized that they are not alone in their “learning”. And they also learned that students all around the world were just like them. They struggled to learn, and had to work hard to create. My students were no longer naive about their place in a global education system and we had many discussions about what it would be like to not only compete with these students for college spots and job positions, but also work with them in college and in the workforce. At the same time, you can’t forget to have a focus on your local community. When we do project with our local watershed, or run community fundraisers its about a bigger cause. Teachers need to tie “innovation” with both local and global experiences, because both allow students to interact with the real world.

7. Standards are guidelines, you are the architect

Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe made a great point when they said:  ”The standards are like the building code. Architects and builders must attend to them but they are not the purpose of the design. The house to be built or renovated is designed to meet the needs of the client in a functional and pleasing manner – while also meeting the building code along the way.”

Don’t let new standards get in the way of innovative teaching. That is a lazy excuse. Instead, use standards as a starting “code” for creative lessons and projects that promote design thinking and innovative learning experiences.

8. Be a learner first and model it

I’ve had a number of great coaches in my life, but my one football coach will always stand out. He wasn’t our head coach but worked specifically with the offense. He sticks out in my mind because he looked at the game differently. He would see things in film and relate them to a game he watched on TV. He would bring in new ideas that he came back with from clinics and camps and other coaches playbooks. He never stopped learning. And we could see it as players. He was never satisfied. He demonstrated what a growth mindset looks like to a learner. I was his student, but he inspired me because he was relentless in learning. We in turn wanted to watch film and break down other defenses because of his modeling. Remember, it is what you do…not what you say…that speaks volumes to your students.

9. Flexible with high expectations

My students like to say I challenge them. My players that I coach say the same thing. And I admit that I have high expectations for myself, our team, our students, and our school. But with high expectations often comes lack of flexibility. Innovation doesn’t happen without either of these. Have high expectations for your students and they will rise to meet a challenge, but also to have the flexibility to go with what is working and change paths if need be. It is a fine line to walk as learners, but keep an open mind about what is possible, and anything really can happen.

10. A challenge that is fun

I really shouldn’t have waited till #10 to mention the word fun! Learning needs to be fun. The process may have its ups and downs, and it should be challenging. However, it should have moments of pure fun and enjoyment. One of my favorite quotes is by the late professor and author Randy Pausch of the Last Lecture. Randy says, “If you can’t learn and have fun at the same time, then I’m not sure you have a good understanding of either.” As human beings we enjoy a challenge. It’s a different kind of fun then going to Disney World, but I’d argue that it may also be a better type of fun. Let your students work hard and have fun in their learning experiences. They’ll thank you for it.

I’m sure I left a few things off this list that would be considered innovative teaching. Let me know in the comments and add your thoughts to the discussion!