Screencasting. Backchannelling. Gamifying. Flipping the classroom. These words might seem mysterious to you, but at South Oldham High School, OCTI teachers are putting these 21st century educational practices into action. Started four years ago, OCTI (which stands for Oldham County Technology Initiative) is a districtwide initiative with groups in each school. Every year, schools send teachers to a fall seminar and then these teachers join a local and virtual community of learners focused on using edtech to increase rigor, engagement, critical thinking skills, and literacy. OCTI teachers meet at the school level several times a year to collaborate and share how educational technology has transformed instruction.
English teacher Ian Borders attended OCTI last year, and he continues to use the skills he learned to transform his classroom. Borders taps into student creativity in his Myths and Legends class by asking students to retell Norse myths through film. Borders also reports that using iPads has increased rigor in his instruction. Students just finished a research project on the 1930s in preparation for reading To Kill a Mockingbird. Easy access to multiple texts, illustrations, photographs, and videos allows students to synthesize multiple sources to create meaning, a key skill in critical thinking. Access to iPads in the classroom has fostered a spirit of independence among Borders’ students as well. In the past, they turned to their teacher for the “answers.” Now they can discover and evaluate the information for themselves.
English teacher Chandra Emerson is also using iPads in her classroom for research. Using an app called PaperHelper, students read and evaluate information while simultaneously taking notes and tracking sources. After students synthesize the information, they create documentaries and share
them with the class using Google Drive. Emerson also uses her iPads in Creative Literacies to create photo essays and to backchannel (have silent conversations online in real time) during film analysis activities. Using iPads in the classroom has transformed her teaching, giving her students opportunities to interact with each other and the world in ways not possible without edtech.
Participation in OCTI isn’t the only avenue for using edtech in the classroom. Social studies teacher Robin Krause was recently awarded a Pyramid Award to receive two iPad minis as well as a host of world history apps. Krause plans to use the iPads to create stations, allowing for increased
differentiation. In her multi-modal unit, students will be able to read paper copies of primary sources as well as access iPad apps such as a 3D Tour of the Sistine Chapel and Eons Timeline.
We are excited to have nine current members of OCTI and look forward to adding more in the future. We have had several teachers present at the OCTI seminar in the past. Drama teacher Ryan Lash taught OCTI members how to create and edit films from story board to finished production using
Vintagio. Science teacher Amy James presented how to create automatically graded quizzes with Google Docs and Flubaroo. We look forward to including more innovation in the future, adapting our instruction to meet the needs of today’s students while increasing opportunities for rigor in the classroom.
English teacher Ian Borders attended OCTI last year, and he continues to use the skills he learned to transform his classroom. Borders taps into student creativity in his Myths and Legends class by asking students to retell Norse myths through film. Borders also reports that using iPads has increased rigor in his instruction. Students just finished a research project on the 1930s in preparation for reading To Kill a Mockingbird. Easy access to multiple texts, illustrations, photographs, and videos allows students to synthesize multiple sources to create meaning, a key skill in critical thinking. Access to iPads in the classroom has fostered a spirit of independence among Borders’ students as well. In the past, they turned to their teacher for the “answers.” Now they can discover and evaluate the information for themselves.
English teacher Chandra Emerson is also using iPads in her classroom for research. Using an app called PaperHelper, students read and evaluate information while simultaneously taking notes and tracking sources. After students synthesize the information, they create documentaries and share
them with the class using Google Drive. Emerson also uses her iPads in Creative Literacies to create photo essays and to backchannel (have silent conversations online in real time) during film analysis activities. Using iPads in the classroom has transformed her teaching, giving her students opportunities to interact with each other and the world in ways not possible without edtech.
Participation in OCTI isn’t the only avenue for using edtech in the classroom. Social studies teacher Robin Krause was recently awarded a Pyramid Award to receive two iPad minis as well as a host of world history apps. Krause plans to use the iPads to create stations, allowing for increased
differentiation. In her multi-modal unit, students will be able to read paper copies of primary sources as well as access iPad apps such as a 3D Tour of the Sistine Chapel and Eons Timeline.
We are excited to have nine current members of OCTI and look forward to adding more in the future. We have had several teachers present at the OCTI seminar in the past. Drama teacher Ryan Lash taught OCTI members how to create and edit films from story board to finished production using
Vintagio. Science teacher Amy James presented how to create automatically graded quizzes with Google Docs and Flubaroo. We look forward to including more innovation in the future, adapting our instruction to meet the needs of today’s students while increasing opportunities for rigor in the classroom.