I enjoyed my time with JR Ginex-Orinion. He embedded some neat pedagogy into his presentation that I could apply in my classroom in the future, including a QFT (Question Formulation Technique), shared slide activity discussing web and app tools, and an Elevator Speech Activity where we had ten minutes to prepare a pitch for an admin to get more technology in our classroom.

I started off with reading this article titled “Mobile Devices for Learning: What You Need to Know”. I think the biggest nugget of information I gleaned was the blurb on the app Nearpod.

 

I’ve never seen it in action before, and for whatever reason whenever someone discussed it–this was not what I pictured. Seems like a fun way to transform some of my older PowerPoint lessons and bring in some interactive elements with my 5th graders.

 

I liked the QFT activity he had us do as well. He posted a statement- “Mobile learning involves more than merely incorporating new technology into current pedagogical strategies; it requires an instructional paradigm shift that promises to fundamentally change the way students learn.” He then gave us time to formulate questions on the statement–could be challenge questions, questions to clear up understanding, or questions that just relate in some way. We then grouped the questions based on similarity and were broken-up into small research groups to gather resources and answer on our own. This could be easily adapted in5th-graderade classroom in all content areas.

The shared slide activity where we ranked a web tool and an app on different criteria was a valuable experience as well. I learned more about Kidblog–and I think I finally have my answer to my student ePortfolio search. Kidblog allows the embedding of Google Apps–SeeSaw does not have that feature.

 

I could see doing this activity with my class. My students are currently researching an explorer of their choice–we could develop a ranking system with criteria like Impact, Brutality, Adventure, Death–these might need work, but it would be a fun way to share lots of information relatively quickly with the class.

I think I took away just as much pedagogical tools just from JR Ginex-Orinion’s presentation as I did from the content as well. I enjoyed it and found a lot of value in the workshop.