These slides accompanied a session at Wellesley College (January 2013) This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 New Zealand License.

1. Wellesley College: Trialling technology to grow writers
Karen Melhuish Spencer | @virtuallykaren | 29 January 2013

2. No hea au?

3. Touchstones
• Wellesley character
• The value of e-learning
• Enhancing writing
• Knowing and including our students
• Starting our own inquiries

4. Places and people
forms11about@photos.flickr.com

5. By the end of our session...
Develop a question to trial that combines boys’
writing and digital technologies.
by....
✓Considering your current situation
✓Exploring current examples of e-learning and
writing
✓Plotting an inquiry for term 1.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/27620885@N02/3018698863/sizes/m/

6. Combining writing and
technologies
The big ideas

7. Using Storybird to improve literacy

8. what is e-learning?
“...learning and teaching that is facilitated by or supported
through the appropriate use of information and
communication technologies (ICTs). “

9. what’s the point?
..so that every student can actively engage in learning in
ways that deliberately suit their needs and passions.
Civic engagement
Greater opportunity to
connect, participate &
collaborate Digital citizens
New pathways to new Access
knowledge
Inclusion.
Personalisation
Inclusion
Engagement through
.
prior knowledge Equity
Source: wakingphotolife

10. “In deep expressions of practice,
students' learning activities and
the curriculum/knowledge
content they engage with are
shaped in ways that reflect
the input and interests of
students,
as well as
what teachers know to be
important knowledge”
Bolstad, R., Gilbert J., McDowell, S., Bull, A., Boyd, S., Hipkins, R. (2012)
Supporting future-oriented learning and teaching - a New Zealand perspective. New Zealand: Ministry of Education

11. Combining writing and
technologies
What can it look like?

12. WhyPlaces and people
places are important
Why places are important
to us
http://www.flickr.com/photos/90257728@N02/

13. An small example using SOLO
My place in the sun - understanding why places can be important
o us.
• Identify one important place where people go during
the summer.
• Describe the kinds of places where people spend their
summer.
• Compare the places - how are they similar? different?
• Make general statements about the kinds of places
that are important to people.

14. Engagement before
writing “Help me find my own doorway”
“Once we have
developed a rich
question, we use photos
gathered on Flickr,
recorded video
interviews with family,
and examples online,
like Digistore, to engage
boys’ prior knowledge on
a topic.”
http://www.flickr.com/photos/learnscope/2547026015/sizes/m/

15. Preparing to write
“Give me steps...or build me a ramp”
“There is more than one
way to show
understanding - we
sketch, digitally
mind-map, retell
stories using
storytelling apps and
curate images as we
prepare to write.”
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kevintice/189207135/sizes/m/

16. The writing process “Pathways as memorable as the
destination”
“We use tools to
support collaborative
and shared writing,
easy editing and
authentic
publication. Writing
for real purposes and
audiences has never
been easier.” http://www.flickr.com/photos/opedagogen/5265755107/sizes/m/

17. Combining writing and
technologies
How can we turn ideas into
action?

18. driving your own
learning
Image:Boudewijn Berends

19. design for all
Image: ZeRo`SKiLL

20. A helpful focus
1. How can I teach writing better
using digital technologies?
2. What’s happening in other schools
with e-learning?
3. How can I use a collaborative
writing tool to engage those
identified students who need
support at the drafting stage?

21. “My students mainly draft
writing and then we type it
up neatly, or make posters
for the wall. To be honest,
the work is the same as
it has always been - I’m
not sure what the
possibilities are.”
✓finding out
What might our focus question be? ✓planning
✓investigating
Image: DavidDMuir

22. “We have tablets in the
classroom and we use
them mainly for research
and editing. Some students
want to be more creative
in the way they work. I
feel we could be using
technologies to support
the learning process
more strategically.”
✓trialing
What might our focus question be? ✓establishing
Image: Christy Tvarok Green

23. “ I have begun to use
technologies to find new
pathways that suit
students’ passions and
needs. This has meant
designing tasks
differently to how I have
in the past.” ✓ focus on learning
✓authentic use
What might our focus question be? ✓shared roles
✓whole community
Image: Mark Pinder for the Guardian

24. “We integrate technologies
so that students’ learning is
personalised and richly
creative - and we make the
most of community and global
connections. Learning looks
completely different to a few
years ago.” ✓higher-order
✓community driven
What might our focus question be? ✓networked &
blended
Image: chesbayprogram

25. Test. Trial. Question.
Inquire.
• What do your students need? What matters
most to them, given what you know?
• How can you combine literacy, pedagogy and
technology in ONE small trial? Frame this as a
deep question.
• What will you need to know before you trial?
• What will you look for?
• What happened? What questions do you now
have?
• Next steps?

26. Hands-on activity?
Co-develop our inquiry for
term 1
www.bit.ly/wellesley1234
http://www.flickr.com/photos/opedagogen/5265755107/sizes

27. stars and wishes

28. Next steps?
What is
needed now?
Image: Some rights reserved by SFB579 :)

29. www.elearning.tki.org.nz

30. VLN Groups - online community for teachers
www.vln.school.nz

31. Further thinking:
• Teaching as inquiry - case studies:
http://nzcurriculum.tki.org.nz/Curriculum-stories/Case-
studies/Teachers-as-learners-Inquiry/Teaching-as-inquiry
• Inquiry as a disposition (CORE EdTalk):
http://edtalks.org/video/inquiry-disposition#.UPRrXKFeui8)
• e-Learning as inquiry on Literacy Online
(http://elearningasinquiry.tki.org.nz/What-is-e-Learning-as-Inquiry)
• How teachers are inquiring (ERO):
http://www.ero.govt.nz/National-Reports/Teaching-as-
Inquiry-Responding-to-Learners-July-2012/Findings/Teachers-
inquiry-into-the-impact-of-their-teaching-on-students

32. What do you notice?
Image: Copyright 1995-2002 The Denver Public Library, the Colorado Historical
Society, or the Denver Art Museum; http://www.uwec.edu/foundation/