So I decided to be brave yesterday. Here’s the backstory first…
A few days ago I decided that it was high time to get kids involved. Nothing finds a loophole in software, or an undesired feature better than a kid with some free time. I have spent weeks pouring over this software trying to figure it out, learn it, master it. Now it was time to unleash the students!
Getting their usernames and passwords uploaded turned into a nightmare. Because the username is a system of numbers that begins with 0′s, Excel kept erasing the 0′s as it would for a number. For example, if the user number is 001234, Excel made it 1234, naturally. Perfectly legitimate, but a dealbreaker for me. So between OpenOffice Calc and Excel I was finally able to upload the usernames and passwords via csv.
The majority have worked. With classes averaging 25 kids, only one or two have had trouble, and usually it is because somehow they mix up the numbers, or transpose a digit. Normal for this age. There’s grace for that…
So it began. Naturally, the first thing that the kids went for was the messaging function. I had included a Who’s Online block so they could see each other (and limited it to first names) and they began chatting and messaging within seconds of logging on. I suppose I should not be surprised that this is the biggest draw, after all, this is the new face of communication. I tried to lure them to the online quizzes, slide presentations, and integrated wiki. I lured a few, but not many. Ultimately, I had to instruct them to message AND online quiz, since they are such good multitaskers at home.
What I saw was surprising, rather than ask the person sitting next to them for help on a quiz question (and these are practice quizzes for the record), they asked the messaging recipient. Wouldn’t it seem quicker to ask next door? I was not fussing that they be quiet, rather I was enjoying the low buzz of learning! I wonder why they consistently preferred to ask a chat partner rather than a physical being in a close proximity…the most remarkable of all was that sometimes the messaging recipient WAS the person next to them!
I suppose this is a manifestation of the new face of learning? I wish I knew. All I know is, kids were engaged, they are working towards become self-sufficient and less teacher-dependant, and they are beginning to own the learning. Should I be concerned about the amount of messaging? The content of the messages? Still working that out in my head…
I guess I have to compare it to a class 1.0 setting. When I was a kid, to practice for a test we would complete a worksheet or three, and then maybe make flashcards with a partner. Can I say that my method worked better than the old school style? Well, kids walked out happy, and even in my most discipline-prone class, I had zero trouble.
I’ll chalk this up as a victory for new learning. Now it’s up to me to spend less time worrying about vocabulary and find a way to help them learn to teach themselves through some sort of fun inquiry model…
Maybe I should start a revolution in foreign language teaching…that would be fun…
mrc says:
You should definitely be concerned about the content of the messaging. Just like talking, it can be productive or it can be distracting. If they are using IM as a way to ask things that they are hesitant to talk about, that’s great. Does Moodle give you a way to monitor all chats?
9th November 2006 at 12:17 am
Mike Yared says:
Very cool. Thanks for sharing that story.
Sounds like the kids were engaged and energized with a new way to learn.
9th November 2006 at 2:48 pm