I work with middle school students in huge classes of 32-35 with 1:1 laptops. I want them to be as independent as possible. I also DON'T want them to spend the whole day Googling new Nikes. So... I present a list of ten things that worked for me.
1. NO FREE TIME. EVER. Give students a range of awesome choices that they can do with extra time.
Seriously, this one is quite misunderstood but so important. "No free time" does NOT mean that students can't do independent research, Genius Hour, SOLEs, or independent work. It doesn't even mean that my students don't play the occasional brainless game.
It means that I never announce, "You can have ten minutes of free time on the computer!" and I never give free time as a reward for good behavior or strong work or when someone is finished.
Having the expectation that school computers are used for school stuff will make for better projects, less re-direction, and happier students and teachers. Take suggestions frequently and be flexible when it's necessary.
Make a list of "when you're finished" sites that you're comfortable with and post them on the wall or the class website. Let them generate ideas and vote. Better yet, have continuing projects that kids come back to when they have a bit of extra time, like personal blogs, research, reading, or art.
2. Similarly, don't offer a computer activity just to soak up time. Be intentional with every project/program you give students.
3. Of course, then you have to actually know the program. Take the time to learn, use, and play with the apps you give your students. If you don't have time to look at things before you assign them, you're doing too much.
4. Don't use computers to think critically for you. Computers are great at lots of things but so far, they are not good at: editing writing, making higher-quality resources more obvious than poor ones, judging the efficacy of an argument, providing great conversation, feedback, and critical thinking in general. Don't try to save time by having a computer do these things for you.
5. Use computers to give quieter students a voice. Online discussions, blogs, and portfolios are great ways to encourage students who don't love to speak up to add their voice to the class. Online discussions don't move as fast as oral ones, so students have more time to think and revise their thoughts before participating. ELL students have the benefit of spell-check and translation functions. Social response apps, like Socrative or Exit Ticket or even Twitter, can really engage adolescents, who focus on their peers above all else.
6. Use programs that allow kids to be creative. In middle school, you can use a lot of the apps that most of us are using already: Wordpress, Piktochart (infographics) Vine (short looping video), LucidChart (mind-mapping), Google Slides and Drawing, and Prezi (animated presentations) are some examples of programs that really set the 6th graders on fire. Use "plug-and-play" programs that teach pre-loaded skills and content sparingly.
7. Let students explore to learn new programs. Most programs like the ones mentioned above are pretty user-friendly and intuitive to the student generation. I like to introduce programs using a "sandbox" method: They open a blank doc and I project a list of things I want them to know how to do with it. An example with Google Slides was simple but useful:
-Add/delete slides
-Change the slide layout
-Change theme and font
-Insert an image three different ways
-Move images and text around
-Go to presentation mode.
-Use spell check.
-Use the research tab
I give the kids 10-15 minutes to figure all that stuff out. They can talk to each other, but not to me. Then I call volunteers to present their findings to the class on the projector. After each presentation, other kids can ask questions or present alternative ways of reaching the goal.
8. Give access, not exceptions. Give choices, not changes. Many teachers worry that because not all students have computers/internet at home, digital projects are not equitable. This is an important thing to consider, but learning where resources are available is a good skill for everyone to have. Tell students where they can access free computers (library, school labs, your room at lunch). Check to see if your community has resources for student computers or low-cost internet and provide these resources to students. For those of you in Oakland, CA, please check out the Oakland Technology Exchange. If you have a project that cannot be completed with class time only, provide a range of options for projects at the beginning rather than saying something like "Those of you without computers at home are free to hand-write the essay."
9. Listen to your students. They know a lot about what's out there. Have a "parking lot" poster on the wall where kids can write suggestions for new programs or how to use the programs you've introduced. Take suggestions during class occasionally. Then follow rule #3.
10: Get your students to listen to each other. "Ask three before me!" is the rule in my classroom. I almost never have to troubleshoot because of all the little hackers in my room that help each other out. It's great for building communication and learning to solve problems together. It also often highlights the skills of quieter gamer kids.
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