Jan

24

Extended classroom…a tale of connection.

January 24, 2008 | | Leave a Comment

I can be guaranteed to get a reaction from students, colleagues or parents when I talk about learning in the new digital landscape. With ever-increasing connectivity and digital spaces, I have no doubt that going to a physical “school” on a daily basis for an education will be an option for many students. Virtual (and very real) spaces will allow students to join increasingly disparate learning communities, interacting with learners and learning leaders through digital connections.

As a 1:1 laptop school, many of our teachers have created virtual classrooms of varying degrees, mostly based on wikis, blogs and pods. The fact remained that the primary interaction between students and teachers continued to be daily direct interaction within the walls of the school.

That was true, until now.

Just before Christmas one of our Grade 8 students, Lauren, accompanied her parents as they moved temporarily to New Zealand, where her dad, an Engineering professor, was seconded to teach at a university in Christchurch. She will be there until the end of March.

With New Zealand schools out for summer vacation for most of that time, Lauren and her parents wanted her to remain enrolled and connected to her class at Nashwaaksis Middle. While certainly full of questions as to the logistics, her teachers committed themselves to the idea of “teaching” Lauren through the miles.

We’ve only just begun, but the results so far have been impressive. Armed with her own laptop with webcam, Lauren connects with her teachers on a daily basis, selecting her assignments off her teacher’s wikispaces – Chad Ball’s is here – and completing / returning her work on her own private space developed just for this purpose.

Her teachers have taken up the charge, and so have her classmates. Two classmates tape selected classes (Language Arts so far!) and post the podcasts on the wiki for Lauren to watch daily class activities – even if it is the next day!

More plans are in the works. We are hoping to have Lauren work in a group at some point, connecting directly with her group members to produce web-based content in an a yet-to-be identified project. She will also do her public speaking presentations through her webcam and we plan to start weekly video conferencing between Lauren and her classmates/teachers. We’ll connect last period in New Brunswick (mid-afternoon) and Lauren will be up at 6am the next day to connect synchronously. Should be a blast!

What are we learning? Mostly that the significance of geography as a barrier to connection and learning continues to decrease and that the real barrier in the 21st century is time – and time zones.

tags: technology, education, whipple


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