Seriously Academic. Astoundingly Social. My Big Campus

"Good morning, class!  Ok, open your texts to chapter 4A and follow along as I go through this Power Point of new vocabulary. Next, we will practice on this worksheet and you can finish up for homework, ok?"

No matter the level of enthusiasm or even my infectious smile and Sullivan Nod, my Digital Natives just weren't buying it.  After 12 years teaching in the classroom, even candy bribes were  ineffective.  Class failed to be fun for my students- much less engaging, interactive, collaborative, or meaningful.  I remained aware of my exhaustive strategies and felt somewhat ashamed that I just could not seem to spark the level of enthusiasm, curiosity, and achievement I felt was harbored just beneath the surface of the bright young minds that crossed the threshold of Room 203 daily.

My IT department cornered me one day with a proposition to test pilot something called My Big Campus.  No way.  I mean, I wanted to improve, but in no way was I going to be a guinea pig for another technology initiative that marginally and only temporarily held the attention of my students- and at the expense countless hours of up-front time on my part.  Reluctantly, though, I logged on and tinkered.  The beginning of the transformation of Room 203 began with this initial log-on- here are my highlights:

Walls- All of us have a profile page- very Facebook, very intuitive.  We set up little baubles about ourselves and posted to our own and each others' Walls.  "Good luck at the track meet, Lacey!" "Don't forget about Relay for Life forms!" "Congratulations to Bonnie and Rob for acceptance to Virginia Tech!"  Students can Yes!, Comment, Repost, post to each other, post to me.  In short, every one of us now belong to a community.  Students have a presence and a voice. They receive external verification from each other (and from me!) in a fluid, continuous, easy, and constant manner.  In short, my students matter- and they know it!

Discussions- We finally can have asynchronous conversations than span time and location. We use Discussions to learn netiquette (which my Seniors thanked me endlessly for as they came to visit from college) and expand our classroom to a 24/7 learning environment. Discussions also become a posting board for FAQ's where they have access to content and can bounce ideas back and forth.  We post helpful resources and answer each other's inquiries. Discussions give students a voice- no matter restrictions of a 90 minute class, how shy someone is to speak out in front of his/her peers, or even an absent student, Discussions level the playing field and give all students opportunities to contribute and be heard.

Bundles- Bundles have proven to be a perfect way to create self-paced lessons, flip my classroom,  and create e-portfolios. Students and teachers construct Bundles using resources, text, assessments, weblinks, group pages, discussions- even NROC and NBC Learn content and Apps for the iPad users. Users collaborate on Bundles and even branch from Bundles in the exchange so they do not have to start from scratch.  Educators everywhere share modules, units, and lessons effortlessly- students build meaningful collections of work to demonstrate growth or showcase work. Even better, Bundles are easy to create, rearrange, and share.

EduTalk- This live feed links into Twitter to facilitate a professional learning network for teachers and administrators. I find users with similar interests to follow and am now in contact with educators all over the world.  I switch between the general feed for all teachers to find new contacts and then onto the page that shows only my followings to read about the latest resources and ideas from my colleagues. I even made plans with my EduTalk family to meet up at a conference for dinner! EduTalk makes networking simple.

Bob Campus/Bob's Corner-  Bob Campus, who possesses My Big Campus omnipotence as well as models ideal digital citizenship, is available almost 24/7.  Users ask for help and Bob is armed with almost instant replies to questions ranging from general information to even the most complex of inquiries. Students join Bob's Corner to interact with other users in a controlled, monitored, social environment. Bob's response time and presence in Bob's Corner solidifies the message that we all crave: we are a community, we are important, and we are a part of something big!    

Schoolwork- Finally I have a way to administer quizzes, classwork, and even surveys on the same venue as Discussions and class Group content.  Schoolwork auto-grades, contains options for retakes, question groups, and commenting, and I can even attach standards to individual questions as well as entire assignments.  By duplicating and editing, individualizing instruction takes mere seconds. Furthermore, detailed reporting tells me instantly who is missing work (and I can gently remind them to complete this), what the percentages are on individual questions, and overall achievement on the Schoolwork. Students have access to their Schoolwork and upcoming dates are highlighted to keep them organized. No more missing papers! No more logging onto external sites for a quiz! No more wasted time! Schoolwork is a one-stop solution with 100% accountability for both students and teachers!

Parent Portal- To close the student-teacher-home dynamic that is critical for student achievement, the Parent Portal allows guardians to see Group content, assignments (both upcoming and completed), and send messages to the teacher. Parents view a comprehensive calendar for each individual student and clearly view the academic standing of their students. Not having to log on to external e-mail saves time, and aligns comments and inquiries to specific assignments if needed.  The Parent Portal provides resources for our parents to be involved and in-the-know from day to day- another checkpoint for ensuring each student's success!

Your Stuff- No more missing flashdrives! No more, "I left it on my other computer." No more, "I can't find that!"  Your Stuff is unlimited file storage for students and teachers that we filter by label and file type. Students learn the valuable skill of digital organization while reaping the benefits of having what they need at their fingertips. Whether they enter the workforce or go on to higher learning, students will need to organize themselves digitally for assignments, e-mails, etc. Your Stuff is an excellent tool to teach them this lifelong skill! As someone also guilty of the occasional misplaced file, using Your Stuff proves to minimize confusion and eliminate "lost" files- for my students and even for me!

Calendar- Ditch the agenda books and look at the Calendar! Individual Calendars for classes as well as a comprehensive Calendar are provided for each user. Since I drive the Calendar, I never worry that students write something down erroneously (or not at all). I post reminders, push resources, and link to Schoolwork for Groups or individual users, so I quickly and conveniently differentiate for my learners. We can also push our Calendar out to our iCals to synchronize what happens in Room 203 with the rest of the school and outside the school walls!

Topics- User-driven Topics are created by any educator and open for membership by any other interested educator.  Lively discussions on best practices, trouble-shooting, and even praises happen in these professional learning networks on a daily basis.  The Flipped Classroom 101 was the vehicle I used to flip Room 203!  Through networking, advice, and links to helpful websites, videos, and other resources, Topics provided me the vehicle I needed to embark on cutting-edge practices!

My Big Campus transformed my teaching, captivated my students, and allowed us to do more than just transfer information.  We belong to a social, academic community that grows and learns together.  More than just posting assignments, showing a video, or logging on to take a quiz, My Big Campus is a one-stop educational haven that not only allows us to engage on a quest for content knowledge, but also reinforce responsible on-line behavior and digital citizenship.  My Big Campus equips us with a place to learn, grow, and play- all in a safe, monitored, academic setting!

Lessons From a Power Outage

Hurricane Sandy slammed into the East Coast several weeks ago, leaving in its wake massive destruction and widespread power outages.  An unfortunate mix of ice storms on top of trees that still had not lost their fall leaves caused the trees to fall on power lines, homes, and cars.  The flooding that lasted for over a week also further delayed getting power restored to millions of people trying to keep warm as the chilly November temperatures continued to fall.  Power crews from as far south as Florida raced up the coast to assist their fellow Americans in need.  The whole event created a sense of deja vu from only seven years before when we watched at the city of New Orleans disappeared under a wall of water.

In Virginia, Sandy's impact was far less than anticipated, so it is with complete shame that I reflect on my own panic when our electricity faltered for a few short hours.  My family of four went into a state of paralysis for the outage. We were totally inoperable. Pretzels for dinner, staring at each other in the semi-dark, we were pretty pathetic. I often forget how reliant I am on the power and technology I take for granted- these infrequent outages send me humbling reminders of this Achille's heel of mine.  I would venture to say that the loss of power and technology is crippling on a national level as well as evidenced by the shut-down of Wall Street and cancellation of the New York marathon.

Even in the midst of all of the heartache and subversion, I did watch some incredible uses of technology  in the aftermath of Sandy.  On my social media accounts, I saw countless posts raising funds, collecting donations, and even setting up carpools to personally assist the people who were suffering the most.  I saw virtual "check-ins" from people trying to be sure other loved ones were ok, but did not have the means to make phone calls (I even set up my own in my East Coast Coaches group on My Big Campus to find out how we could support each other and how everyone was faring). Craig's List filled with people willing to part with generators and wet/dry vacuums knowing that the demand far exceeded the supply on the East Coast.

Some say that social media is destroying the fabric of our society, but I would counter that sentiment by examples of what I saw first hand just this month.  Social media will never replace face-to-face interactions, nor can it break the spirit of humanity that is instilled in each of us.  Social media helps connect us and gives us a venue to reach out to people that otherwise would be beyond our scope.  The people of New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Connecticut, and more have certainly felt the benefits of this social media outreach.