Unit 3 - Collaborate

Unit 3:  Technology to Support Communication and Collaboration (3 weeks)

Welcome to Unit 3!

First of all, well done! You have now built a good foundation in educational technology. Let me summarize your achievements so far. You learned about how to learn meaningfully with technology, universal design for learning, ISTE standards, and general knowledge about classroom technology integration. You also explored Google Workspace and additional tools that can facilitate learning. Then you synthesized all of your new knowledge into a writing about the connections between what you had learned and how that connects with the ISTE standards for student learning with technology. 

In Unit 3, you'll look at the ways technology can support communication and collaboration in classrooms. You'll connect this back with your readings from previous units and new information from this unit. But most importantly, you'll have an opportunity to find new tools to support your own learning. 

Hope you enjoy this unit, and find something meaningful for you!

Have you noticed that the 4 Cs also serve as a framework for the EDIT2000E course? Among the 4 Cs, our primary focus in Unit 3 is communication and collaboration. Critical thinking is an important concept throughout all of our units, and we'll focus on creativity and innovation in Unit 4. 

Now that you've had some background information on the 4 Cs, let's look at some tools that can help support communication and collaboration in the classroom. Yes, it's time to explore new tools again! 

Items to Complete in Task 2:

1. Explore. You will take a few minutes to read the overview of all sections and become familiar with the communication and collaboration tools listed in each section.

   1. 1. • Blogging and Website Building p. 69

         • Collaboration and Project Management p. 83

         • Interactive Posters p. 153

         • Podcasting p. 207

         • Speaking and Discussion p.247

         • Writing p. 289

2. Think. After becoming familiar with the tools in the 6 sections above, reflect on your learning experience in the last fall or spring semester. How utilizing one of the 6 types of tools you've just explored might have changed the project, activity, or learning material?

3. Recreate. Select a previous project/activity/learning material and a relevant communication/collaboration tool. Provide a demonstration of what the finished product might have looked like if you had used this tool. The main requirement is that you try something NEW to you, NOT what you're already familiar with. And that you share something new with us from one of your previous classes. You don't have to recreate the entire project - just give us an idea of how it might be different if you used the tool. 

   1. 1. • For instance, you could: 

           • • Create an interactive poster for a presentation you were assigned.

             • Write the beginning of a blog post on a former research paper topic.

             • Design a ThingLink to label some diagrams in preparation for a test.

             • Share course materials through one of the communication tools - create a Sway (presentation tool) about a topic from a spring semester class. 

4. Write & Share. Once you've created your example, add a link or a screenshot (whichever is most appropriate for the tool you selected) to your "Collaborate" page. 

• Write 1-2 paragraphs describing what you created, and why the tool could facilitate learning better than the original method. 

• Make sure to include the tool's name and a link to it.

5. Publish. And as always, don't forget to publish your page. 

Now that you have some experience using a number of tools that support communication and collaboration, think about any K-12 or college teacher you've had. Take a few minutes to jot down the type of work you did with the teacher and consider which tools could have been useful to both the teacher and the students for communication and collaboration. You'll need this note for task 3. 

• • • What activities and materials did the teacher provide?

    • How did the teacher facilitate collaboration and communication? Did the teacher do it well? Why, or why not?

    • Consider the tools (at least two) you've explored in task 2 - what new tools might be useful to them? 

    • What would it look like if these communication/ collaboration tools were used in the class you've identified? How could teaching/learning be different?

Items to Complete in Task 3:

1. Storytelling. Write a "Look Inside the Life" story of the teacher you've selected.
   You can either 1) write using Google Docs and embed the file (instructions), or 2) write directly on your Collaborate page. 

   • • The story should include:

       1. 1. Multiple examples of communication and collaboration tools.

          2. Learning activities that the teacher could implement with the tools.

          3. How the tools could support teaching and/or learning.

     • Your write-up should be detailed and 4-5 paragraphs in length. Feel free to add any pictures to your writing if you want to.

     • Do not identify the teacher's real name (e.g., use "Mr. H" instead of "Mr. Hwang"). You may use a fake name but let the reader know (e.g., Mrs. Hwang (pseudonymized)). 

     • This is an example story that I wrote for my previous app design project. Your story will look a little different from this one, as mine is a 'design story' aimed at briefly explaining the potential user experience of my app. Your story will focus on detailing learning activities with the tool and how the tool could facilitate teaching and learning.

2. Create a resource page. Next, you're going to take what you wrote about in your "Look Inside the Life" story and create a resource page for all of the tools and activities you described. This resource page will contain links, tutorials, ideas, and connections to teachers using the tools. Remember, you may identify the subject area on your resource page - but do not identify the actual teacher.

   • • Your resource page should be built in Padlet. You can see a very simplified example here (yours needs to be more detailed). There are many tutorials available but a basic page on "how to post" can be found here. You can sign in with your Google account and you should be selecting the free version of Padlet (you can make up to 3 padlets for free). 

     • Your padlet should contain the following items:

• All of the communication and collaboration resources that would be useful for your selected teacher that you shared in your "look inside the life" story.

• At least one item related to connecting to other teachers that use one or more of the tools you've listed (i.e. teachers on social media - found through relevant hashtags. See #studentvoice as an example)

• An audio or video overview of why you've chosen these tools (remember, you can post all types of media in your padlet - including audio and video)

3. Post. When you have completed your padlet, provide a link to your padlet or directly embed the padlet (tutorial) in the "Collaborate" page of your portfolio. Include a short 1-2 sentence description.

4. Publish your page. 

Items to Complete in Task 4:

1. Draft. In a Google Doc, write a 4-5 paragraph reflection that answers the following questions.

• 1. • • Write about your understanding of 4 Cs after several tasks in Unit 3. How can students and teachers use technology to support the 4 Cs? What can you share from your very first week's reading that relates?

       • Connect what you've worked on this week to the ISTE standards you read in the last unit. How do the 4 Cs relate to the ISTE standards?

       • What is your current understanding of the role educational technology can play in helping students and teachers to communicate and collaborate? 

       • How can these tools support meaningful learning? (references to specific tools and readings here are a good idea.)

  2. Review. Proofread your writing with the rubric below.

     • • In your writing, do you effectively demonstrate knowledge about 4 Cs, ISTE standards, and meaningful learning? (3pts)

       • Do you demonstrate your own active thinking and engagement with the information and activities so far? (4pts)

       • Does it look like college-level writing? - click here to see my expectations & suggestions. (1.5pts) 

       • Does it look like a final draft (no typos or grammatical errors)? (0.5pts)

       • Are there 4-5 paragraphs? (0.5pts)

       • Do you reference readings and tools you've used? (0.5pts)

  3. Post & Publish. Insert your reflection document on the "Collaborate" page of your portfolio. Before you insert it, don't forget to make your Google Docs file viewable to “anyone with the link” (or I won't be able to view it).

I don't know if you like doing these videos or not - but I have to say that I really appreciate them. I feel like I can know you a bit better if I can actually see you (and rest assured, I am much nicer when I'm grading the work of people I know). 

Access this week's topic with this link. For this week's Flip video, tell us about something you learned in this unit. I expect your video to be around 1-2 minutes. Commenting on peers' videos is not required this time, but your classmates will really appreciate it if you do so! 

You may choose several of the questions below for your video response:

• • Was there a particular communication/ collaboration tool that you tried that will be useful to you in the future? 

  • What do you think is the most important 4 C skill for effective teaching and learning? 

  • Among the 4 Cs, what skills do you think are competent at? What skills do you need to develop? 

  • Tell us about the artifacts you created in this unit. What did you make? What was challenging or interesting when creating the artifact?

If you're using the FlipGrid app - use the code: e20780c7 to access the Flip page.