Suggested Technology Tools for Challenge Based Learning
Photo: Courtesy of Katie Morrow
Foreward There are a number of helpful technology tools that can be employed when facilitating “Challenge Based Learning� projects in the classroom. This guide is simply that...a guide, a set of suggestions aimed at giving teachers ideas. The beauty of educational technology is that it is adaptable and personal. Use all of the ideas or just a few. Hopefully as you begin to think of the tools to use, your mind and eyes will open to the possibilities these offer and to others as well. Find the ones that fit your situations and your students. Challenge Based Learning projects should be as exciting and rewarding for the teacher as they are for the kids. Be an innovator. Explore and enjoy.
Web based Technologies The Internet will undoubtedly be your most used technology tool. You and your students will use it to research answers to many of the essential questions your class generates. Your students will also use it to collaborate on your strategies and to collect information. Because the web has undergone such a change in the recent years, it is no longer just read-only. It is a two way street your classes can use to publish and share work. Below is a set of places around the Internet to start.
(Flickr.com) When my students began a challenge focused on helping an Alabama town ravaged by tornadoes, the picture sharing website was an invaluable tool at showing our students just how terrible the devastation was. Flickr is a relatively safe site when it comes to keeping students away from offensive images. I trust it with my upper elementary students but I always stress that they must focus their searches on appropriate subject matter. Flickr.com can also be a great place for students to publish and house the images they either take or create. Flickr accounts are free and when students take pictures and place them online they then become accessible to all team members to use from any computer at any time. Flickr is just one of many online photo sharing sites. Picasa, SmugMug, and Snapfish are similar services and each brings with it unique features not available in the others. Picasa for example is part of Google and ties in with many of the other Google owned tools like Blogger.
If there is one place people hang out most online, it just might be YouTube. The video sharing site is famous for finding the latest silly sensation yet can also be used to support your CBL projects. Just like Flickr.com or any of the other photo sharing services, YouTube can be a very useful tool at news and information gathering while learning about a problem that needs to be addressed by a potential challenge. Teachers will want to preview videos they find on YouTube. There can be some great stuff but like anything that is wide open like YouTube, you have the potential of running into some questionable content. YouTube is also a great example of the two-way consumption/production Internet. Creating videos for YouTube can be a great way to share your challenge initiatives with the World. YouTube has become one of the biggest draws on the Internet and content placed there comes with an inherent clout. The sharing of videos is easy and they can be embedded on pages across the web as well as shared on social media sites like Facebook.
The Google Apps suite for education can be invaluable if your students have their own school accounts. Yes, students are able to access their own documents at home or from any computer but the magic happens when users begin to share documents and collaborate on them. A document can be shared amongst people in the same school or across the world. Data can be collected from numerous location and all dumped into the same spreadsheet. Take for example a challenge based on beach pollution. Classes in California, the Great Lakes, Florida, and Massachusetts can all perform the same experiment, enter data, and then compare all of the results to form their own conclusions. Think of how difficult it would have been to perform a task like this before having access to a collaborative, cloud based service like Google Apps. A great way to conduct free and easy surveys as part of a challenge is Google forms. A survey can be created within minutes. A URL can be emailed to target groups or posted online. All results are neatly organized by Google in a spreadsheet that can be made public for viewing or shared like any other Google document.
WikiSpaces.com is a virtual space where multiple users can all collaborate on a project. The term “wiki” is derived from the Hawaiian word for quick. The websites created in WikiSpaces are just that, quick spots for users to all build and contribute without worrying necessarily about the fanciness of the final product. Like Google Docs, a wiki can also serve as spot for group members to post individual contributions or a place to house resources like images, sound files, or movies. One convenient aspect of WikiSpaces is that it is cloud-based so contributors may access their group’s wiki from any computer, anywhere. Another advantage is that it is free. Wikis can be kept private or open for the public to view and edit depending on the needs of the group. Other wiki services include PBworks, Wikia, and Wiki Host. Do your homework though, as each offers its own unique features. Some schools have purchased and use the Apple Wiki Server that hosts wikis onsite.
Edublogs.org is just one of many services available for creating blogs online. Blogs can be great for challenge based learning groups to post their initiatives, progress, and solutions online. Most blogs allow the embedding of pictures, sounds, movies, and any other kind of multimedia imaginable. Educationally blogging can be not only a great writing exercise, but also a great reflective opportunity for students to think deeply about what they want to accomplish, how their progress is coming, and ultimately how well they were able to implement their strategies. The fact that others may comment on blog posts makes this web based technology interactive. When finished with a challenge, the blog serves as a nice documentation of all of the work and learning that happened over the course of the challenge. Other blogging services available online are Blogger and WordPress.
Facebook is what you make it. Some people simply use it to keep tabs on the gossip while others leverage its reach and popularity to help with challenges. Facebook’s event scheduling lets groups send out wide reaching invitations and then helps to manage how many people will or will not be attending. Users can ask questions about the event, engage in discussions about the upcoming event. Even after an event is complete, discussions can continues and attendees can post pictures from their experience. Groups in Facebook can be extremely effective ways to collaborate. They can be public when your challenge team is looking for input from a wide range of people or groups can be private where teams can divvy up tasks and hammer out the logistics of how a challenge will be handled from the posing of the essential question to the completion of all of the tasks. Beyond collaborating, a Facebook group can also serve as the public “face” of your challenge. Keep people who are interested in your group’s work abreast of what is happening with your effort. This is much the same way the blog can be beneficial. It is interactive but has the advantage of the fact that many of your readers will already be on Facebook at different times of the day and your page will be an easy one click away. One thing to consider when using Facebook is your school district’s guidelines for using social media. This serves as a good time to build in some lessons on digital citizenship. Remember Facebook users need to be 13 and older!
Twitter is a lot like Facebook in that it is wildly popular and has a wide reach but its effectiveness and usefulness really depends on how it is employed. Twitter is a social media platform where users can broadcast a 140 character message to all who subscribe to or “follow” their “tweets”. Twitter accounts are free and can be set up as a news feed for people interested in your challenges. Users can also direct their tweets at other Twitter users to send personalized messages. One interesting example of this being useful is a mother “Tweeted” to former model and now highly successful business woman Kathy Ireland about her daughter’s fight with against a terrible disease. Ireland got involved in the fundraising efforts to help the little girl. Kathy herself also used Twitter in a similar manner to raise money for the Christian School system where her children attend.
Edmodo just might be the perfect answer for the teacher that wants to take advantage of all that social networking can do but does not want to deal with the possible pitfalls associated with working in Facebook or Twitter. Edmodo is a proverbial “walled garden” where teachers can set up networks but put in place security features that only allow the members of the network to contribute or see other postings. Edmodo makes for a great collaborative space, but can also serve as a central resources hub. Teachers have access to a library where they can upload video clips, documents, images, or whatever else they need to make easily accessible for team members.
Glogster is a free membership collaborative online learning platform which allows students and teachers to create interactive posters that engage students in fun and creative ways. Text, graphics, and animations motivate students to do the research and create meaningful projects that can be viewed by a large audience. Students can collaborate with one and other and share their projects with students all over the world. Glogster posters can be easily be added to teacher websites and wikis. The premium (paid) versions have additional bells and whistles such as video uploads, audio capabilities, drawing tools and more.
Wall Wisher is a Web 2.0 free online tool where anyone can build a "wall" or online notice board. Students can discuss ideas, take notes, give feedback, voice an opinion and much more. Students can stick post-it notes electronically onto the wall, (and include linked Pictures, You Tube videos, PowerPoints, PDF documents, Excel Spreadsheets, or web page links) If the wall is set to “public�, then online visitors can add a comment to the wall by double clicking on it and typing text in. (Comments are limited to 160 characters).
Telecommunications
Skype has become such a popular video chat application that it has gone from a noun to a verb. More and more teachers are “Skype-ing” and opening their students to all kinds of experiences. Skype is a free, downloadable application for both Macs and PCs as well as mobile platforms like Android and Apple IOS. It uses a webcam to connect people all over the world, allowing them to instant message and do voice and video chats. When it comes to Challenge Based Learning, Skype is extremely valuable when it comes to conducting interviews with experts in the area you are focusing your efforts. Those “experts” might just be the kids you are trying to help in hurricane ravaged Mississippi or they could be engineers working on solar panels in Arizona that can answer questions on a sustainable energy initiative at your school.
iChat is Apple’s application that allows users to instant message and voice or video chat. It also makes screen sharing possible as well as file transfers. Although it is an Apple proprietary system it has the ability to reach users of other diverse networks no matter what operating system they are using. iChat can connect with AOL Instant Messaging users as well as Yahoo! Messenger, Windows Live Messenger, and Google Talk. iChat has been built into Apple’s Mac OS X operating system 2002 and has evolved significantly along the way. When screen sharing was delivered in Mac OS X v10.5 user were given collaborative capabilities that are not found in Skype or similar products. Screen sharing also allows two people on separate machines to work on the same desktop at the same time. This feature lends itself well to Challenge Based Learning where people often work from different locales together on the same project. There are numerous other services available for groups to connect. AOL Instant Messenger and Yahoo! Messenger have been around almost as long as the Internet has been open to the everyday user. Newer products like Google Talk and now Google+ all offer the chance for people to come together via telecommunications. How you connect your students to the world can come in many different forms. Use the one that works best for you.
Desktop Publishing No matter what the project is, some type of word processing or desktop publishing application will be necessary. There will be announcements to generate, thank you notes to create, and countless other forms of communication like posters and fliers. As mentioned earlier, Google Apps can do a lot of this work and employ the collaboratively helpful sharing options. In some situations, setting up the accounts can be a burden and something that is machine, not cloud based is the easiest way to go. Sometimes you might also need to get a little fancier with your layout and design than what Google Docs offers. The following are pieces of software that can do all of that but will come at a financial cost.
Apple’s Pages is a word processor for the MAC OS X operating system that specializes in bringing visual elements like photos and clip art into the projects. The application is part of the iWorks ’09 suite that includes the presentation software “Keynote” and spreadsheet software “Numbers”. Apple now sells each separately in its online Apps Store for $19.99 each. A key feature that makes adding media simpler is the way Pages integrates with other Apple applications like iPhoto and iTunes. A convenient Media menu pops up and makes inserting pictures and audio files a simple drag and drop. Movies are also located on the Media menu and can be quickly inserted as well. Audio and movie files may not seem very useful within a simple word processor, but Pages has a new feature that allows users to export their work as an ePub. ePubs are electronic books that can be read on the iPad and the Nook from Barnes and Noble among other devices. Within an ePub, audio and video files are playable and add to the multimedia experience. Creating an ePub as part of a Challenge Based Learning project is a unique way to share processes and results. A number of templates make it easy to get started on various kinds of projects when the application is launched. Pages also exports to .PDF and .DOC so sharing work is not hampered by the fact that fewer people use Pages for document creation than other tools.
Microsoft Word is one of the old stand-byes in the word processing world. Over the years, the application has gone way beyond just typing and allows users to create graphical layouts. In a challenge based learning project, Word can be used for everything from parent letters to flyers, posters, and newsletters. The newer versions come with all kinds of templates that make creating very attractive newsletters, and bulletins quite easy.
Kidpix from MacKiev has been around now for four decades and remains the gold standard for being the kid-friendliest layout and design tool. KidPix has even recently gone 3D but still gives users the ability to combine text and graphics for a number of uses. Mac OS X users will find the 3D and Deluxe 3X editions integrate all of the media from iPhoto and iTunes, giving easy access to personal picture and sound files. In the challenge based learning projects that I have done in the past, I have found that Kid Pix has been best for students to create signs announcing and promoting the initiative. It doesn’t have the graphical power that Pages or Word has but does offer something that neither can and that is the ability to create animated slideshows. The slideshows can also be exported to iMovie making Kid Pix a multimedia creation tool beyond just simple document creation.
Multimedia Authoring Video Tools
iMovie is Apple’s built-in video editor that allows users to create professional looking products. As iMovie has evolved, Apple has found ways to make the user interface more intuitive while continuing to bulk up features. A very helpful addition to iMovie ’11 is the inclusion of the movie trailer maker. Short cinematic productions can literally be accomplished in minutes by just dragging still images and video clips into the templates’ place holders. The results are stunning and are a great way to generate some buzz about your Challenge Based Learning projects. Sixth graders in the Saugatuck, MI Public Schools raise Chinook Salmon from hatchlings in tanks in their classrooms. The fish are then taken to acclimation tanks along the Kalamazoo River before being released. As a thank you from the local charter fishermen and in celebration of the completed project, all students are taken out for an afternoon of fishing on Lake Michigan. The following video is an example of a trailer made in iMovie ’11 and will be shown to excite the students about the reward that lies at the end of the hard work they will put into raising the salmon this year.
Users looking to create even more detailed work on a Mac need to look no further than Final Cut Pro X. The newest high end video editor from Apple is used by television and film producers all over the world, and offers meticulous control over all aspects of the editing process. One drawback schools may find is the retail cost of $299.00 per license. There are other video editors available for schools that do not have access to Macs. Windows Live Movie Maker 2011 is Microsoft’s free application that tackles essentially the same task that iMovie does. It allows users to import their own clips and images, edit, and share. A paid alternative to Movie Maker for Windows users is Magix Movie Edit Pro which retails for $59.99 and offers many advanced features such as more transitions and better audio controls.
Photo Booth is an application built-into the Mac this is a simple frontfacing still and video camera. Kids love all of the special effects they can apply to their photos like bugged-out eyes and alien shaped heads. A simple green screen effect is easy to use and users can insert their own backgrounds.
On the surface this may look like a goofy little camera program but when looked at closely, Photo Booth can be a powerful tool within a challenge-based learning framework. Getting students to reflect upon all aspects of the project is key and this can be the perfect tool. Each can find a quiet spot with a laptop and record a short “diary” session where they give their ideas on how the project is progressing, what they have learned, or where they see this project really having an impact. Reflecting with Garage Band is another great thing for the teacher leading the CBL unit to do. Katie Morrow from O’Neill, Nebraska has assembled the following iTunes set of reflections collected with Photo Booth.
Frames is an educational Tech4Learning software application for stop animation, claymation, and digital storytelling. The clipart, photographs, music and drawing tools are plentiful so students do not have to search the web. There are three tracks so students can add audio, sound effects, and music. The chroma key feature allows for layering of images and green screen. Students can create stop motion animation with their drawings, photographs, or claymation projects. Audio Tools
Garage Band is another one of the many tools built into Apple’s iLife ’11 suite. Apple brought the concept of podcasting to the mainstream in early 2006 with Garage Band 3. An easy to use visual interface that allows users to arrange and stack vocal and musical tracks has made the application perfect for putting together audio recordings. Garage Band gives users the ability to produce professional sounding audio without needing a whole lot of highly technical skill. The types of audio one can produce with Garage Band is really quite limitless. Some ideas for using in the CBL classroom may include interviews relevant to your challenge or reflective
conversations. Students may get really creative and even make radio commercials that can drum up community awareness or support for certain projects.
A free alternative to Garage Band that plays on both the Mac and PC platforms is Audacity. Although it lacks some of the controls of Garage Band as well as the free built-in library of jingles and sound effects, Audacity gets the job done when a simple recorder and editor is all that is needed. Many schools have used Audacity in conjunction with Garage Band much the same way others have used Photo Booth in conjunction with iMovie. Audacity can be a quick and easy way to grab some audio without needing all of the bells and whistles of Garage Band.
Suggested Apps for CBL
Idea Sketch Is free and makes it easy to connect ideas. You can toggle between map view and outline view.
Popplet Popplet’s interface lets you capture your ideas and sort them visually, and collaborate with others in realtime.
Evernote Evernote allows you to drop links, PDFs, charts, and book scans into a single, easily searchable notebook. Â
Side by Side Side by Side is a multiple-screen browser and file reader with note taking capabilities. Four different windows can be open on the screen at once. This is an excellent app for comparing information from multiple sources while taking notes.
SonicPics SonicPics turns your images into a custom slideshow that allows you to record a voiceover on a series of pictures.
StoryKit StoryKit allows you to create a recordable electronic storybook with drawings, photographs sound effects and more.
iMovie Easy to use App for video editing taken on your iPad. You can record HD video on the iPad, then edit and share!
Garageband GarageBand turns your iPad into a collection of Touch Instruments and a full-featured recording studio — so you can make music anywhere you go. Great for capturing all your project ideas.
Dropbox Allows you to access your files anywhere. You can easily upload photos and videos to Dropbox for your CBL project. You can share your dropbox folders with other users in other places and work collaboratively on the documents inside.
Lino Online stickies for collaboration. Students can post memos, videos, files and pictures on a canvas and share and have discussions with others.
Pages Creating a document is simple. Options for tables, charts and shapes are included as well. Lets you view your documents where ever you are.
Keynote A professional presentation app —complete with animated charts and transitions.
Book Creator Allows you to create your own iBooks, right on the iPad. Read them in iBooks, send them to your friends, or submit them to the iBookstore.
Screen Chomp Record, sketch and share. - Create a video that tells your story and share it!
iBook Collaborate and read your ePub or favorite book!
Toontastic This app helps student build animated stories. Â Toontastic walks students step-by-step through the process of writing a story with a variety of scenes: Setup, Conflict, Challenge, Climax and Resolution.
Puppet Pals Great app for storyboarding, character writing, speaking and listening. Students can create unique shows with animation and audio using actors and backdrops in the app or their own images and photos.
Doodle Buddy Students can finger paint, drop in playful stamps, use stencils, text tools and more to create drawings. They can share their creations and work together with this collaborative app.