Edmonds Digital Learning

With the move to Chromebooks, teachers have lost access to many of their trusted multimedia tools, like Movie Maker, Photostory, and Audacity.  When attempting to create engaging, real-world projects for students, such as podcasting, this can be barrier. Thankfully, there are many developers bringing multimedia tools to the web. Bandlab For those familiar with GarageBand, Bandlab with feel very intuitive, giving users the ability to build multi-track audio projects from captured audio (recorded via the computer's microphone) and built-in synthesized instruments. Students making podcasts can edit and manipulate multiple audio sources, perfect for assembling interviews or multi-person stories.  For added professionalism, students can also compose their own music. It's incredibly easy to use, and integrates directly with students' Google accounts, so it all works seamlessly in the cloud.  For aspiring podcasters, it even offers a platform on which to publish ...

Anyone who is still pondering how technology can be used in visual arts should spend 5 minutes in an art class at Alderwood Middle School.  Since her arrival, teacher Amy Barnes has transformed the curriculum using 1:1 Chromebooks, giving students more choice and control over their learning, and giving classic techniques a techno-spin. While learning single-point perspective, students use an online tutorial program to help them review techniques that they have learned in class, as well as push themselves by attempting new and individual challenges given to them by the program.  By end, each student has mastered the concept, and produced an original design for a room. Once their initial designs are complete, the students use Planner 5D on their Chromebooks to translate that design to a 3D computer-aided-design environment.  Students I spoke to said that this helped them to find mistakes in their original drawings (e.g. when an object was too short, o...

Shark Tank inspired science project engages students with an innovative challenge. How can energy produced by lightening be captured and used? In October, “Sharks” attacked an 8th grade science class at Meadowdale Middle for the 2nd Annual Shark Tank Challenge.  Parents, school staff, and administrators took on the role of “shark” investors as students presented their ideas to the panel. As one student stated, “we have done research projects before, but never anything where we had to come up with the idea and other people grill you with questions..., especially adults.” The students in Stephen Howard's 8th grade science class learned more than simply how energy works and impacts the world. They embarked on a journey to apply their knowledge in a useful way. Howard’s Shark Tank project embodies the important 21st Century Learning skills of collaboration, communication, creativity, imagination, critical thinking, and problem solving as it relates to the science curr...

Walking into Cheryl Roth’s 5/6 grade classroom at Beverly Elementary can be like walking into a Hollywood editing studio. The classroom is alive with students hard at work on Chromebooks adjusting scripts, choosing music and graphics, and recording and editing video. On a recent visit, students were busy using WeVideo to create videos for their kindergarten buddies and were completely entrenched in the process. “The kids are really engaged with what they are doing,” says Roth, “As they work on this project, they realize they have to rework and edit. They are working collaboratively and cooperatively to figure out what parts of their videos are strong and what needs more work.” Roth has been using technology with students for years, but using WeVideo for student movie production is new for her this year. “It’s a way to get kids interested in topics,” she says, “Kids are so tech savvy and it is so much a part of their lives that I feel it has to be included in my curriculum.” Roth ...

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With apologies to William Shakespeare, when it comes to math instruction, to differentiate or not to differentiate has never really been the question. In any given class, teachers face a range of student abilities that span multiple grade levels some working years ahead of the provided curriculum, while others lag years behind. Reasons for this ability span are as unique as each individual student who shows up to learn every day. All teachers understand the importance of reaching each of their students, but more often than not the crucial question becomes, "How?" Enter technology. While continuing to draw most instructional material from district-provided curricular materials, teachers can use online materials to supplement student learning. Khan Academy and CK-12 are two free websites can be used as powerful tools for mathematics differentiation. Both of these sites allow teachers to create class lists, track student progress, assign activities that focus on specifi...

Ever wonder why students can master complicated video games, rattle off in-depth statistics about Seahawks players, or explain intricate movie plots, but struggle with solving arithmetic story problems? I know I have, but after teaching some of Graham Fletcher's 3-Act math lessons I am closer to answering that question. Graham's lessons provide students with a picture or video that inspires students to create their own mathematical inquiry question. Students view the picture or short video and are driven, by their natural curiosity, to ask questions about possible outcomes. These student questions quickly morph into higher-level problem-solving students actually enjoy! Graham has questions embedded throughout his lesson plans to ask students as they go through their problem-solving processes. In my own classroom, I adapted these questions to create even more student buy-in and shared a Google Doc where students could record their thinking as they worked through each p...