Think Collaboratively: Mix and Match Your Ink!

MixedInk.com leads the way in supporting collaborative writing and critical thinking. Students not only write original content, they also practice how to edit, comment and rate their peers' writing. Students evaluate each classmates' content and synthesize the best ideas, mixing and matching different versions to ultimately create one best piece representing the collective voice of the class. Every student's voice is heard because MixedInk.com identifies key words and phrases giving each original author credit for his/her contributions. As students mix and match their words with those of their peers, they receive real time examples of other classmates who have used the same language. These real time suggestions encourage students to elaborate, and expand on the ideas of their peers. Every student is accountable to write and contribute his/her thoughts. Throughout this collaborative writing process, students rate each text anonymously practicing the art of constructive criticism and evaluation. Students' ratings determine the best contributions. Teachers can easily assess writing strengths and weaknesses as students engage in the collaborative writing process.

   

It's All Fun and Games Until Someone Makes You Think!

I've realized that although we consider students digital natives, students still resist using tech tools in purposeful ways. We somehow expect that digital natives have the instinct to want to use tech tools to have insightful discussions, write collaboratively or to produce a thought-provoking, original piece of content. However, we fail to realize that creating original content requires a lot of time, effort, perseverance, trial and error, and above all, lots and lots of critical thinking. 

Lately, or perhaps it's always been that way, students don't want to work that hard. It's easier for a student to function in a teacher-centered classroom than it is in a learner-centered one. Some teachers or should I say, the system, have trained our "millennials" how to be straight A students with minimal effort in a pseudo critical thinking learning environment, and when we shift the paradigm, not only do the teachers resist, but so do the students and their parents.   

Teaching students to use tech tools in a purposeful way may cause some tension because kids want the fun games; many parents want the least amount of work for their kids, and teachers either don't have the time to design critical thinking lessons using tech, or they simply don't know how. The tech tool cannot stand alone, and is not going to make students think critically. It's how we use the tech tool that will teach students to think. The problem is that some kids have a lot of unlearning to do. By the fourth grade, students who have had ineffective teachers learn exactly how to manipulate the system so they are perfectly comfortable filling the blank and bubbling in a circle. Students will resist when we make them write a script using their imagination, or add their thoughts to a wiki, write a script for a video, or collaborate with peers directing their own video.  Using tech tools effectively is not all fun and games; at first glance, tech tools appear to be flashy, but there's nothing flashy about them. Used effectively tech tools require lots of hard work, and it's hard work to think!  So students, teachers and parents have a lot of bad habits to unlearn. Sometimes parents enable a lot of the "I can't" attitudes too. We assume that because kids love using tech that somehow they are going to want to use it to think critically. Thinking requires effort, perseverance, even sacrifice.

It's hard to believe the statistics of students underperforming on standardized tests while attending schools with cutting edge technology. We must constantly evaluate how tech tools in the classroom impact student achievement.  All educational stakeholders are responsible for constantly evaluating what we expect students to do with technology, and how tech will impact student achievement. Without this constant accountability, educational tech tools lose their effectiveness.

Educational tech tools cannot be all fun and games; otherwise, it's the students who hurt in the long run.

Have You Friended TED?

If you haven’t met TED, TED is waiting to inspire you and your students! TED is a non-profit organization first created to spread ideas about Technology, Entertainment and Design; however, since it’s inception in 1984, TED has expanded to spreading ideas online about so much more through TED Talks. Our technology has made TED Talks easily accessible anytime, anywhere on the web.  TED Talks feature short presentations of leading experts in all fields of study. From celebrities, scientists, writers, to directors, magicians, heads of state, and Noble Prize winners, TED Talks are profoundly moving and thought provoking. TED presenters promise to keep you and your students engaged because presentations are no longer than 20 minutes long! No snoozing or mind wandering with TED, promise! 

How can you use TED Talks in the classroom?

TED has over 900 different talks exploring all aspects of life and the human condition. Speakers explore topics we can all connect with, and in 20 minutes or less, we leave feeling smarter and more aware of our world and ourselves.  
  

Imagine if you could create your own TED Talks in your elementary, middle or high school classroom. After reading a novel, or non fiction piece, students could explore one or more of its themes; research the theme in more depth using primary sources for support of the theme, and then write a moving speech to deliver as a TED Talk. What about writing and delivering a TED Talk as a character from a short story, or the speaker of a poem?  In science, students could explore the moral implications of cloning, or in history class explore patterns of human behavior to determine if we truly do fail to learn from our mistakes. In math, students could offer TED Talks to explain mathematical applications in life. These are obviously just a few ideas off the top of my head, but if teachers of all subjects brainstormed ideas with their students of possible TED Talks, I’m sure the topics would be worth a listen.  Kids want to talk and express their views, opinions and perspectives of the adult world. It's in every human being's nature to seek knowledge. Creating mock TED Talks, and viewing actual TED talks can channel that human instinct to learn and help students make sense of topics they struggle understanding.  
   

If your school has its own TV broadcast system, imagine students creating brief TED talks on bullying prevention, drug awareness, cyber bullying, social media safety, and other student issues. How would  these student TED Talks impact a school culture? 

Kids are more creative than adults; if given the opportunity to create their own TED Talk network, students regardless of learning challenges and ability level could literally change the cultures of their schools through their own TED talks. If the TED founders have been able to inspire the world, then our children can do it too if we give them the chance to express themselves.  

Here’s one of my favorite TED speakers, Ken Robinson, on how schools kill creativity. I hope that whether you teach elementary, middle or high school, you can think of a way to create your own mock TED talks in your class. Even if some of the TED talks are too mature for your students, you can apply the concept of TED to your classroom by allowing your students to teach and inspire one another through the power of speech.


Please also visit TeachingWithTED to see a wiki listing great TED Talks, and a Glog created by one of the wiki contributors. (Couldn't find the name to credit the person who created this awesome Glog):  


http://teachingwithted.pbworks.com/w/page/19958111/FrontPage

Also visit this site to find out how to "Do" a TED Talk:  http://teachingwithted.pbworks.com/w/page/23101042/How%20to%20%22Do%22%20a%20TED%20Talk