Tom Daccord

Thursday’s keynote address from Tom Daccord offered a practical look at how to create the classroom that nurtures innovators.

Tom started his talk by showing pictures of learning spaces – the traditional rows of desks vs those that allow for collaboration (i.e. small study areas, places to connect laptops for projection). We have to redefine learning spaces if we want to encourage students to work and plan together. How often do you still see classrooms with rows of desks? Do we, as teachers, keep them that way because it’s the way we were taught? Do we prefer the more structured way of teaching because we’re afraid of the increased noise level that occurs when collaboration happens? Yet, I believe redefined learning spaces is a critical change that needs to be considered so that our students are able to work together.

Tom has recently spent time in Singapore. He shared with us a couple of the Desired Outcomes of Education from the Singapore Ministry of Education. In part, the document describes the learner as:

• an active contributor who is able to work effectively in teams, exercises initiative, takes calculated risks, is innovative and strives for excellence
• a self-directed learner who takes responsibility for his own learning, who questions, reflects and perseveres in the pursuit of learning

Isn’t this what we all want for our students? Isn’t this what companies look for in new hires?

Tom asks the question, When someone visits an iPad classroom, would they be able to define the objectives of learning? He says in order to move from pockets of excellence to systemic educational change, we need a well-defined plan.

• What is the mission of iPads in the school?
• Does everyone know what that is?
• How does that align with the school’s overall mission?

Tom shared this quote from Professor Ben Shneiderman: Learning seems useless unless it prepares us to be creative. The question is then:

How can I put my students in creative learning environments?

Tom shared practical examples of what that looks like. He tells teachers to use what you know in an authentic, effective way. How true is his comment that “when technology is introduced in a classroom, it is typically an extension of the classroom.” For example, interactive white boards involve teacher control; they aren’t student centered learning. Tom says to think of a situation where the teacher is front and center. Is there a way to use iPads so students become in charge of the learning?

Writer’s Workshop Poetry Lessons with iPads
This is a wonderful lesson with first graders from Chicago’s Burley Elementary School. Students illustrated mental images of a poem read by the teacher. The students shared their drawings and then published them in a variety of ways. Seeing this example prompted a flurry of whispers from our second grade teacher – “I want to do this. When can I get the iPads?” After frantically sending off emails to our tech director, we are set up with a class set of iPads for her students. I told her I want to be there when she does the lesson!

Kathy Cassidy’s Class
Kathy is a teacher of 6 and 7 year olds in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. She does amazing things with these young children! Her blog’s byline states “6 and 7 Year Olds Inviting the World into Their Classroom.” Each child has his/her own blog where work is posted. There are illustrations, photos, videos, audio – all showing learning and understanding. Kathy puts her young students in the position of instructing others.

Creating with GarageBand
Students and members of a band get together to create an original song using iPads plus a few instruments.

A serious issue is that iPads are being used ineffectively. We focus too much on content-specific apps rather than the open-ended apps that allow for creativity. We must move away from just using technology as a substitution or extension. It’s imperative that what we ask students to do truly redefines their learning!