Teaching and Learning in the Digital Age

There is a storm brewing on the horizon, and that storm is called “e-learning in schools”.  As the world is changing at lightning speed, and employers are biting their nails in frustration at the lack of technical skills of the students coming out of school, as young people get sick and tired of ‘powering down’ when they enter classrooms and drop out of traditional settings to participate in virtual learning environments, as universities are offering more and more opportunities for students to access their work online, we are hearing the chorus of more and more voices yelling out that we need to change the way we teach our kids.  We see this on Twitter, we see it in the news, and we see it in the statistics of drop-outs.  We see YouTube videos of students telling the world that they no longer value that which most teachers still hold dear:  The tradition of face to face education. 

In the middle of all of this, we have our leaders of schools.  We are all turning our eyes to these leaders and we are all asking them to lead us into the future…

I believe we have several COMPONENTS to include in the implementation of any E-Learning plan or ICT integration strategies for our schools:

• Component 1:  Whole school approach:  Embed  e-learning into school accountability and improvement framework.  Link to teacher goals and individual learning plans for teachers and principals.
• Component 2:  Build leadership capacity:  Professional Learning on leading E Learning and ICT improvement for Principals and school E Learning/ICT coordinators
• Component 3:  Build teacher capacity:  Provide and support high quality teaching and learning in the areas of ICT applications and how to use E-Learning for effective teaching, learning and assessment.  Source high quality evidence-based curriculum and assessment strategies to fulfill e-learning needs.
• Component 4:  Effective use of data:  Use data to inform teaching for student improvement and understanding.  Monitor and track student progress within classrooms and  P-12.
• Component 5:  Student Intervention: Targeted small group intervention using e-learning strategies.  Differentiated instruction using e-learning strategies.
• Component 6:  Partnerships (Schools and communities) regarding the use and integration of e-learning.

In all of these components, the Central Office of the particular Department of Education, the Regional Offices as well as the individual schools, will have certain roles and oblications.  For the purposes of this post, I will focus on the School Leadership responsibilities for implementing the E-Learning plan across the school:

School Leadership responsibilities for Component 1 (Whole school approach): 

• Set standards and targets that are explicit and are linked to school strategic plan, principal and teacher performance plans
• Promote the concept of all students as E Learning/ICT learners and capable of achieving success
• Support the development of teacher capacity as teachers of ICT and E Learning (e.g. by resources like time release for staff to attend or develop Professional Learning in areas of E-learning, timetabling staff off together so they can plan for using e-learning across curriculum and year levels, funding equipment and professional trainers, etc.)
• Promote E Learning awareness of all teachers across all curriculum areas (link to individual teacher plans and goals).
• Support innovations around ICT-rich learning environment
• Model the effective use of an ICT-rich learning environment
• Embed information and communications technology [ICT] as a key enabler to personalising learning in teaching practice and programs

School leadership responsibilities for Component 2 (Build leadership capacity):

• Appoint and support E Learning/ICT coordinators in all schools
• Identify best practice in E Learning  and promote collaboration
• Respond to Department of Education initiatives
• Source and promote the Department of EducationE- Learning resources and assessment tools

School Leadership responsibilities for Component 3 (Build teacher capacity):

• Principals promote, implement and support DEECD initiatives
• Utilise region expertise in E Learning/ICT for building teacher capacity
• Support attendance for  beginning teacher forums, twice year to promote effective E Learning/ICT teaching and learning
• Embed information and communications technology [ICT] within teaching practice as key enabler to personalising learning in teaching practice and programs

School leadership responsibilities for Component 4 (Effective use of data):

• Principals promote and  support all teachers to use data to inform teaching and learning, regarding e-learning practices in classrooms
• All teachers use data to inform teaching for student improvement and understanding, using e-learning tools
• Assessment as, of and for used in all classrooms:  Use E-learning tools as much as possible.

School leadership role in Component 5 (Student Intervention):

• Principals ensure that systems are in place to track student progress, using e-learning and online tools
• Students who require additional assistance are identified , tracked and supported, using e-learning as much as possible
• Principals to ensure that intervention is embedded and linked to classroom instruction, using e-learning tools and strategies as much as possible
• ICT is embedded in the communication with staff, parents and teachers

School leadership in Component 6 (Partnerships): 

• Acknowledge the role of parents and carers in E Learning learning
• Keep parents and stake holders informed of planned e-learning inititatives, and invite feedback wherever possible.  Invite collaboration if possible.
• Strong partnerships between home, school and community.  Partenerships can be built on or promoted via e-learning and online tools (blogs, wikis, etc.)
• Close links with pre-schools and other schools, promoting and using  E Learning and ICT routines and forums.
• ICT is embedded in the communication with staff, parents and teachers
• ICT is embedded in partnership/stake-holder relationships and collaboration

It is clear that without direct and indirect support from those in power to make decisions about resource allocation and funding, the e-learning journey will not happen in schools.  Tough decisions need to be made about:

• Funding the training of e-learning coaches and leaders for all schools,
• allocating money for time for e-learning purposes,
• providing expert training for school leaders in e-learning appliacations and how e-learningcan promote effective teaching and learning (pedagogy),
• allocating high quality e-learning resources,
• mandating time release for teachers and principals to access the resources and training about the effective uses of e-learning in classrooms,
• enabling innovators to be recognized, valued, promoted and supported in their uses of e-learning principles and applications,
• an ongoing learning and improvement culture surrounding best practice e-learning in schools,
• and setting clear expectations that e-learning will become part and parcel of our classrooms.

Many of the decisions surrounding support are totally out of the control of the normal teacher. The modelling and support need to come from the highest realms of leadership in any  Department of Education.  In their strategic plans, Departments of Education need to allocate resources to schools, tagged specifically to enable principals and innovative teachers to make the e-learning happen in schools, and to bring others on board.

Yes, an e-learning storm is brewing on the horizon, and like in the past, visionary leadership will be the only safe ship in this storm.

For more resources on E-learning and school wide change, please visit (and download the documents):

• Managing whole school change checklist: http://marynabadenhorst-netbookreflection.wikispaces.com/08+Managing+Whole+School+Change
• Peer observation protocols: http://marynabadenhorst-netbookreflection.wikispaces.com/10+Peer+Observation+Resources
• Professional readings on e-learning: http://marynabadenhorst-netbookreflection.wikispaces.com/13+Professional+Readings

This post was written in response to a call from this website: http://dangerouslyirrelevant.org/2010/07/calling-all-bloggers-leadership-day-2010.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+dangerouslyirrelevant+%28Dangerously+Irrelevant%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

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I admire gifted teachers.  I believe they truly touch the future, and hold the real cradle of life in their hands. 

Here is a video to inspire all educators:  Thank you to the truly gifted amongst us.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=632r-wPtBxE

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The only constant, is change.   The world around us is constantly changing, and these days, it is changing faster than ever before.  Can anybody still remember when we had to change from vinyl records and tape decks to CD’s?  At the risk of sounding ancient, I have to confess that I remember seeing a CD for the first time.  I loved the colours and how it reflected the light.  I thought it was the coolest little thing!  A few years later, one of my friends made a garden ornament with her ‘old’ CD’s: She made little holes in the CD’s and strung them together, then she hung them in a fig tree to keep the birds away.  I was horrified.  How could she destroy her CD’s?  I was still getting used to using them, and she was already destroying them!  Of course, she had discovered online music and iTunes, and no longer needed her stacks of CD’s.  She also got an iPod long before I did…but by the time I got mine, I could watch little movie clips on mine, which she was jealous of…

In my house, I still have cameras that use actual films, and yes, even a few unused film strips.  I have some cassettes with favourite music…I am waiting for the technology to come so I can easily and affordably get the sound off the cassettes and in a digital format.  I also have actual flipbooks for animations, I have cookbooks for coal stoves (inherited), and a real cotton table cloth (that I never use, due to it having to be ironed…I just use the modern table cloths that are so easy to wash and need no ironing.)

I could go further and include my husband in the ‘ancient’ category, but since I can’t do that without putting myself in that category too, I will just stop right now!

My point is that I must be an example of someone that is slower to change, someone that is a bit sentimental about letting go of things that I no longer use.  I like new things, but not all at once.  I like using things that work for me.  I like to hang on to those things.  And I guess, schools are the same.  Even though the whole world is changing around schools, the schools are slow on the uptake.  They tick at a slower pace, and seem to want to hang on to what worked in the past.

But change is constant.  The funny thing is, once I change to new things, I could not imagine how I ever got along without it…I get withdrawal symptoms if I don’t have my iPod or mobile phone, I love the ease of use of digital photos, I cannot think how I would quickly prepare food without my microwave oven.  It is just the letting go of the old things that still make my life a little cluttered at times…thankfully, for my husband’s sake!

The powerpoint below has some very funny sayings about the way education has changed through the years, and the resistance to those changes.  It all started when students started using slates instead of bark, and the sentimentalists lamented that students should not use slates instead of bark, because how will they learn if the slates break? (Quote from 1700’s). 

So, it is not only the world around schools that is constantly changing:  Schools will also change.  But the most important change will not be in the buildings, the technology we use, the learning spaces and the furniture.  The most important change in schools will come when we, the educators, change.  Once we have changed ourselves,  schools – and our teaching - will change automatically.

 

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In Victoria we are poised for the implementation of the Ultranet, a state wide ‘intranet’ which will make online collaboration between students, parents and teachers happen in an ongoing, anywhere/anytime online environment.  (For more info on the Ultranet, please visit my wiki http://echuca-ultranet.wikispaces.com ).  Kids will get a student number when they enroll the first time, and all their assessments, reports, outcomes and teacher comments will be logged under that student number.  When the kid moves from one school to another, e.g. from Primary into Secondary college, these results will be immediately available to new teachers, giving a rounded picture of the student’s progress in school so far.  Parents will be able to find out how their kids are going by logging into the Ultranet and accessing their own child’s reports, ongoing assessments, anecdotal teacher notes and the goals the kids have set for themselves. Parents will be able to contact teachers or make comments about their child’s progress, which will allow for many more opportunities to build relationships between the student’s home and the school.  Teachers will have a portal where they can put their lesson plans, and access the resources, handouts, lesson plans, tests, exams, projects and so forth, that other teachers have uploaded.  The knowledge bank will be a fantastic opportunity for teachers to stop re-inventing the wheel, and start building collaborative learning communities online…

With so many obvious advantages, why am I a bit weary?

Upon reflection of our e-learning journey in many schools, I applaud the fact that the Ultranet will give schools another opportunity to unblock some online content at school level.  Lots of students already have 24/7 access to the internet via their mobile phones, and in many cases, blocking certain sites at school level only stops teachers from using the sites in class…kids could access it anyway, via their phones.  Perhaps it is time to rethink our decisions about censorship, and stop allowing people that have never actually taught (or that taught many, many moons ago), people that have never actually used YouTube or the other sites blocked at school, to make decisions about what teachers should and should not be able to access as teaching tools. 

Curriculum should drive technology….technology should not drive curriculum.

In deciding which content to block at school, it may be beneficial to read the view of one student regarding censorship of the internet: http://teenlife.blogs.pressdemocrat.com/10242/censorware-doing-more-harm-than-good/

Please comment about your thoughts on this matter.

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By Youngme Moon, who is the Donald K. David Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business School, where she focuses on marketing and strategy innovation.

My Anti-Creativity Checklist from Youngme Moon on Vimeo.

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Why not send your students on a virtual scavenger hunt?  Rhett Dashwood found the whole alphabet on Google maps!  For links to the maps and the locations of these ‘letters’, visit his site at http://rhettdashwood.com.au/#16575/Google-Maps-Typography.  You can do the same: Ask the kids to find a picture of something on Google Maps, e.g. find a letter, a number, a shape (e.g. a heart, a star, a circle, an oval, a square, etc.), a face, the outline of a body, or advertisements (quite a few companies are now creating huge logos so Google Maps will do their advertising for them…for free!) Here is a blog to kickstart your searches: http://googlemapsmania.blogspot.com/2009/03/find-shapes-on-google-maps.html

Video of Google Maps Alphabet:

Video of how to search Google Maps for shapes using Urban Spaces

Google Earth interesting shapes

Two videos showing shapes and advertisements:

One student created this video, showing some interesting images on Google Earth

Below is a video with some man made images, the coordinates are given as well  e.g.

SHARK:
31 59′20.53″S 152 34′18.47″E

GEOGLYPH IN CHILE:
19 56′56.76″S 69 38′2.07″W

USA BUSH:
41 51′26.99″N 121 29′25.75″W

HORSE#1:
50 39′26.33″N 2 24′14.92″W

ARROW IN PERU:
14 32′45.28″S 75 9′35.85″W

“FACE”:
33 55′37.16″N 117 34′8.58″W

LINES IN PERU (NAZCA):
14 33′9.40″S 75 10′36.74″W

“UFO”#1 IN SPITSBERGEN:
78 38′29.61″N 15 7′5.50″E

GEO-FORM:
19 37′40.75″S 69 58′46.35″W

HORSE#2
54 13′29.68″N 1 12′44.46″W

GEOGLIPHS IN HILE:
19 12′13.45″S 70 0′30.41″W

ELEPHANTS IN AFRICA;
10 54′12.65″N 19 55′56.05″E

BIG RABBIT:
44 14′39.77″N 7°46′10.71″E

SIGN:
37 37′38.69″N 116 50′48.38″W

HORSE#3
51 19′16.29″N 1 45′22.76″W

DINO:
42 4′34.14″N 2 21′21.93″W

“UFO”#2:
45 42′11.97″N 21 18′7.81″E

BIG INSCRIPTIONS IN CHILE:
17 58′20.55″S 70 14′12.89″W

SMILE:
43 25′44.84″N 80 19′51.12″W

Hearts found on Google Earth

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I will be teaching Mathematics to Year 7 students in 2010.  As part of my extension program, I have collated some interesting and fun things to explore, for example fractals, Pascal’s triangle, Body Maths, etc.  All the resources can be found on the wiki http://mathsyear7.wikispaces.com/.

In the mean time, enjoy the holiday season, and may 2010 bring joy and happiness.
New-year.in

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I recently learnt a very cool trick in Photo Story: Panning and zooming.  You import the same photo several times into Photo Story, click on the first image in your photo strip, then you use the customize motion option (on the same page as where you would usually record your voice with the photo).  Tick the box to  choose to set the beginning and end position yourself, and choose where you would like your camera to go.  Click save, go to the next picture, tick the boxes next to set the beginning and end position yourself, as well as next to the option where you set the start position to be the same as where the previous picture ended.  The next step is important: Go to the Transitions tab (you click Customize Motion on the page where you would normally record, then choose the Transitions tab).  You need to tick the box for No Transitions for every photo in your show.  This will ensure that your slides move gently from one photo to the next.

Just follow the same process over and again, for all the pictures in your Photo Story.  Here is a document with step by step instructions of how to create a Photo Story that pans and zooms across the same picture: (right click on the document link, and choose save target as, then save the document to your computer from where you can open it and view it):  Create a Story from a Single Still Photo Panning and Zooming (Alternatively you can view the document on Google Docs http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0ATrf3vzsgKqKZGNyNjhnZDhfMTYxNmtnbWdxZ20&hl=en .)

Here is a video of a Photo Story with panning and zooming:

PanningWaterLillies

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For the longest time I looked at myself in the mirror and asked: “Are you crazy?”  And yes, I know that if you look in the mirror and talk to yourself, you probably are crazy!  However, my grandma always said it is okay to talk to yourself and ask questions, but start worrying if you answer yourself too! 

But let’s not digress.  Have you felt that you are the only voice in a sea of silence, yelling and screaming that people should start changing the way they teach, because we are disengaging so many students through sheer boredom? (Note to self:  “If kids can’t learn the way we teach, perhaps we should teach the way kids learn.” Author unknown. )  Have you ever been in trouble with your peers or your managers for doing things differently to how it has always been done?  Have some parent asked you why you let your students “play” on their computers during class time when they should be “learning” from books?  Have you wondered why nobody has ever invented a device you can plug into your head so you can Twitter or email or surf the web all day without having to carry your computer around?  Have you thought “I have to Tweet that” or “I have to post that” when you heard of some new resource or something interesting?  Have you ‘visited’  some other schools around the world (and this include using Google Earth or Google maps…e.g see Around the world in Eighty Schools using Google Map :Over 64.000 views on the Around the World with 80 Schools Google maps- http://bit.ly/wUUy6 Cool!)  Do you have a PLN?

Well, if you have answered yes to one or more of these questions, don’t despair.  You are not alone.  There are a lot of lonely voices in different places around the globe, and they all congregate on Twitter, and they share and collaborate, and they are crazy together, which, in a weird sense, makes them normal.

And lastly, if you are crazy enough to think you can change the world, you often succeed. (See video below.)

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 Many people are sharing valuable information on Twitter, building skills and knowledge on a global scale…Restaurants and air lines have encountered the power of Twitter when disgruntled customers tweet about bad service, and the public respond by not supporting the restaurants and air lines. Twitter plays an important role in displaying the public perception, e.g. during the Iran elections the Twitterverse took up a unified cry for freedom by adding green ribbons and green overlays to their Twitter avatars. Twitter also enable people to share events like earth quackes and tsunamis long before any news agency can get the story on the air.

 

 

If you don’t know what the buzz is about, look at this video called “Twitter in plain English”.Twitter in plain English

 

 

However, sometimes, Tweeting every single detail of your life is not such a bright idea! There have been reports of people getting fired after tweeting that they were at a sporting event on a “sick” day, or workers getting the sack after tweeting some silly and insulting comments about their bosses or the companies they work for. Likewise, Bosses also need to be aware of the Power of Twitter:

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For everyone that has used Wordle, this new application will seem very familiar.  Tagul (http://tagul.com/#)  is like Wordle, but with more features, e.g. you can choose the shape of your word cloud, and the words in the cloud  “pop up” when you mouse over them.  A Tagul is only 50kb in size.  This tool is great for visual brainstorms, to stimulate thinking and to start discussions. Here is an example: A Tagul with words featured prominently on my blog:

http://tagul.com/cloud/1

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 Starfish: Inspirational Video for teachers.

(For guidelines on how to make similar videos, see the bottom of this post.)

I made this video by first creating the pictures in PowerPoint, then saving the slides as JPEGs, then importing the pictures into Photostory, adding the music and transitions (star transitions), and finally saving it as a .wmv file.  Then I uploaded it to YouTube.  For step by step instructions and information videos on how to create digital stories like these, please see this page:  http://marynabadenhorst.globalteacher.org.au/videos/video-creation/digital-storytelling/

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I just started playing with Voicethread.  It is  a fun way of sharing photos and collaborating online.  I know some teachers are using it for language development, e.g. in LOTE.  They upload an image as a prompt, then ask students to leave comments in a language other than English.  The teacher can then listen to all the comments and comment back to the students…very interactive and cool!  

I also know of a teacher who puts screenshots of a movie (e.g. from the movie Holes) in the main frame, then students have to comment on what they think the characters in the screenshot would be saying or thinking (like I described in the Substantive Talking Tools under Photo Chat).  One Maths teacher uses voicethread to explain the steps in a Maths problem screen by screen.  The kids can then leave comments if they don’t quite understand what he is saying.  You can leave comments on every picture uploaded in the voicethread.  After making the voicethread you can just leave it on the Voicethread page (which can be accessed by anyone that has the internet, so kids can view it from home), or you could also share it by sending them a link, or you could embed it to your own web page (which is what I have done here.)

Below are two examples of a Voicethread  embedded into this page.  You can listen to all the comments by either clicking onto the big arrow in the middle of the big screen so the Voicethread starts playing, or alternatively just click on one of the small squares around the big screen to listen to that specific comment.  If you want to leave a comment, leave your comment by clicking on the comment button on the bottom of the main screen, and then eiter type, record (a little screen will pop up asking you to give permission for the computer to use your microphone, just click the green tick to allow the microphone to be used for recording your comment) or upload your comment/sound effect/music snippet.  Your comment will appear on a small square around the main frame, so everyone else can then listen to/view your comment.  You can always delete your own comment, so don’t worry if you make a mistake. In the first Voicethread there are more than one photo to look at. You can move onto the next picture by clicking the big arrow in the bottom right hand corner of the main frame. The second Voicethread has only one screen.   Thanks!

 Here is a Voicethread with many comments already:

To view my first attempt for Voicethread (Camel Wisdom), click this link http://voicethread.com/share/617652/ (http://voicethread.com/#q.b617652.i3284545 )

To view the Hall’s Gap voicethread on the Voicethread site, here is the link http://voicethread.com/share/619815/

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I recently attended a substantive conversation workshop.  We used some “oldie but goodie”  collaborative learning and conversation starter tools to get the people moving and talking.  For each of these activities you may want to use an online stopwatch (http://www.online-stopwatch.com/).  I listed the conversation starters and resources/handouts here, perhaps you would like to try some of them in your classroom or professional development activities:

1.  Star Buddies

Resource: Here is a document with six stars that you can print and use during the workshop: IceBreakerSixStarsPDF

Each participant got a star with six coloured points when they entered the room.  Participants are asked to put our names in the centre of the  star.  Next, participants were asked to go in search of six people in the room, one for each point of their star.  However, if you put someone’s name on your ‘yellow’ starpoint, that person had to put your name on their yellow starpoint as well.  If you put another person’s name on your red starpoint, that person had to put your name on the red starpoint on their star. Whenever you want people to have a quick chat about something, ask them to go and find their “yellow point” partner (or red point partner, etc.)  Great activity to get people to get to know each other, moving around and talking.

2.  Photo Chat

Each participant gets a photo about a topic that all participants may find interesting (see an example of a handout with four ‘photos’ of classrooms   Photos or pictures should relate to the content of the professional development or lesson.)  Give participants conversation starters (e.g. “For your photo, what do you think the Teacher would be saying if he/she was asking the student open ended questions to find out what the student understands/have learnt during this lesson?”)  The participants need to use one of their starpoints (see activity in number 1 above)  to find a buddy and talk about their photo to their buddy, using the conversation starter given.  Give the participants about a minute to talk to their buddies before moving on to the next buddy (another colour on their star).

3.  Fish Bowl

Participants are told about a topic that some participants may know a lot about.  Participants are asked to ‘volunteer’ to be fish and talk about this topic in front of the rest of the participants.  The two (or three) ‘fish’ volunteers stand in the middle of the room, while the rest of the participants form a circle around them.  The ‘fish’ in the middle of the circle each gets a chance to tell their story about the topic given at the start, while the rest of the participants are quietly listening and taking notes/writing down comments/writing down their questions.  (Here is a tool to use for this activity.  It is a KWL chart. ) After all the ‘fish’ had an opportunity to tell their story, the rest of the participants are given the opportunity to ask questions, contribute their comments or tell snippets of similar experiences, all the while the participants that are not talking, need to respectfully listen to the person talking.

4.  Jig Saw  

Jigsaw activities – where, like a jigsaw puzzle, the pieces of information fit together to make one picture in the end – are great to start collaborative learning and communication.  This activity asks participants to make groups of two, three, four,  or five (as instructed by the facilitator).  Each member of the group gets a section of a topic to learn about.  The group members need to become an ‘expert’ in the section they have to learn about.  They may also choose to go and learn their section with other people that have to learn about the same section of the topic.  This takes about five minutes.  Now the initial group comes together.  Each member of the group now teaches the other group members about the section he/she had to learn about.  The idea is that all the group members will now know something of every part of the topic, as they had to learn one section themselves, and learnt about the other sections from the other group members. 

For more information on JigSaw in Classrooms please see these websites http://www.jigsaw.org/steps.htm, http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/coursedesign/tutorial/jigsaw.html, http://olc.spsd.sk.ca/DE/PD/instr/strats/jigsaw/ and http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curr324.shtml

5.  Cocktail Party

Variation 1:

The facilitator can either pick headings and place these headings around the wall, or just open a general discussion.  Participants are asked to write one or two dot points on a sticky note for each heading (or for the general discussion), and place these sticky notes on the walls around the room, either under the headings, or just anywhere on the walls.  If there are no headings given, the participants need to try and ‘group’ the sticky notes together under similar themes.   Now tell participants to form pairs.  Each one of the pair needs to pick to be either the number one of the number two.  Now ask all the number ‘ones’ to go and stand with one of their sticky notes on the wall.  For the next fifteen minutes, all the number ‘twos’ have the opportunity to move around the room and ask the number ‘ones’ to tell them about their sticky note comments or dot points (Please don’t just stay with your own partner, move around and ask as many people as you can to tell you about their sticky notes).  Now all the number ‘twos’ have to go and stand with one of their sticky notes, while the number ‘ones’ have the opportunity to move around the room and ask the number ‘twos’ about what they wrote on their sticky note.  

Variation 2

Another variation on this idea is to ask participants to draw a picture about something you discuss.  They have to try and convey as much information as they can in just that one picture or symbol.  Use these sticky notes to stick around the room for the ‘cocktail party’ as described above.

Sticky Notes Cocktail Party Web 2.0 applications

You can open up digital walls with for sticky note contributions using applications like:

• Wallwisher (http://www.wallwisher.com/): You can include music, images etc. with this application
• Brainstorming: Powerful tool to get ideas on digital “sticky notes” and stick them onto the board.  You can also add pictures and documents, as well as online videos: http://en.linoit.com/
• Wiziq (Pronounced Wiz-IQ) : Free online collaboration in a room, upload and share notes, documents, powerpoints, etc., participants can type questions in the chat box, or participate using pens/emoticons/text boxes on the whiteboard side (similar to WebEx or Elluminate) http://www.wiziq.com/home/
• Dim Dim: Similar to Wiziq in dot point just above: http://www.dimdim.com/
• Brainstorming fun tool: http://www.distractionbeast.com/brainstormer.swf
•  Online Collaboration in Real Time: http://thinkature.com/: With Thinkature, you can create a collaborative workspace and invite coworkers, friends, and colleagues to join you in just seconds. Once inside your workspace, you can communicate by chatting, drawing, creating cards, and adding content from around the Internet. It’s all synchronous, too – no need to hit reload or get an editing lock.
• Almost Meet:  http://www.go2web20.net/app/?a=Almost_Meet

 

 

• Online sticky notes http://www.pindax.com/

• Online notice board: http://stixy.com/

Online collaboration/meeting spaces (whiteboards to write on, etc.)

6. Half Cards

Resource: Download these playing cards (http://www.jfitz.com/cards/ or http://www.teachnet.com/powertools/neattools/playingcards.html)  or   buy a cheap deck of cards to cut in half.

6.1 Variation 1: Forming pairs to talk

Each participant gets half a card (some participants gets the bottom half, some participants get the top half) to pin to his/her collar.  Each participant needs to find the other ‘half’  to form a pair and talk about something the facilitator/teacher asks. 

6.2 Variation 2 Being a ‘volunteer’

The participants get half a card, while the presenter/teacher keeps the other halfs.  During the lesson/professional development session, regularly pull out half a card out of a hat when you need a ‘volunteer’ to come and share their thoughts.  Make sure you discard the cards you used already if you want to share the ‘volunteering’ around.

ICT Application: Random Name Selector:  Click on this link to open the uploaded Excel Random Name Selector, go to File, Download As, Choose Excel.  Download to your computer, open from your computer after you have downloaded the file, and enter the names of the participants into Column B.  Every time you press F9, a random name from the list will be displayed at the top of the page.

7.  Funny/Famous Faces 

Resource:  Here is a document with some famous Disney Characters for such an activity.

Variation 1 Guess my photo: 

Give each participant a picture of a famous person.  Tell them to keep these faces hidden from all other participants.  As a lesson starter, participants need to find a partner.  The partner may only ask twenty ‘yes or no’ questions to find out who the face on the partner’s photo is.  After the twenty questions you HAVE to guess the name of the famous person.  Now switch around and ask twenty questions to see if you can identify your partner’s face. 

Variation 2 Who am I? (Photo pinned to your back):

A variation on this activity is to pin a face onto the back of participants.  They have to ask questions of their partners to try and find out who is pinned to their backs!

Web2.0 variations:

• Have someone sit with their back to an IWB.  Show the picture of a famous person on the IWB for the rest of the participants to see.  The person that can’t see the IWB can ask twenty questions from the audience to try and guess the face of the person shown on the IWB. 
• Show some concept or part of the lesson (e.g. show a fruit if you are doing “Healthy eating”, a chemical for a chemistry lesson, or a character from a novel the students are studying, or a place from the country the students are studying for LOTE, etc.) on the IWB and follow the same process as mentioned in first dot point just above this one.

 

8.  Toilet Troubles…

Bring a roll of toilet paper, and tell people you’ve run out and this is the last roll. Everyone, please take as much as you think you’ll need for the day.

Hold out the roll so people roll off the sheets. You can use your thumbs as guides and “accidentally” break the paper if people take too much.

When everyone has taken paper, reveal the real reason: please tell one fact about yourself for every sheet of paper you took. Now share with your table team.

9.  Red Herring 

Variation 1: 

Each participant needs to share three things about themselves with a partner.  Two out of the three things must be true, the third is a “red herring” and not true at all.  The partner must guess which is the “red herring”.

Variation 2:

Each participant writes something about themselves that is true but hard to believe.  They must write their names on the back of the piece of paper.  The facilitator/presenter collects these notes and puts all of them in a hat.  Throughout the day the facilitator/presenter draws out a note out of the hat, reads the statement to the audience, and asks them to guess who this relates to. Prizes for guessing correctly.

Variation 3

Put three to five statements (OF WHICH ONE IS UNTRUE BUT PERHAPS A COMMON MISCONCEPTION) about the lesson or professional development content on an interactive whiteboard.  Ask the audience to “vote” for the statement they think is untrue.   (Hands up for each statement, count the hands, write the number next to the statement).  Reveal the correct answer after giving some of the participants the opportunity to “defend” why they chose a certain statement.   (You could also ask pairs to discuss their choice with a partner. )   

You could also give the participants the option to change their vote after the discussions took place, before revealing the “red herring”.

WEB 2.0 applicatons:

• Please note that if all participants have access to the internet and a computer, they could “vote” online on a poll you created here: http://www.twiigs.com/ , here http://www.funtrivia.com/welcome.cfm or here http://www.quibblo.com/
• Poll everywhere using Text messages: http://mashable.com/2009/06/16/poll-everywhere/

• Create an online survey quickly.  Many types to choose from: http://www.surveymonkey.com/
• Online Survey tool: http://www.ask500people.com/

10.  Zoom

Resource: Packs of cards for each table:

A group tries to create a unified story from a set of sequential pictures.  The pictures are randomly ordered and handed out.  Each person has a picture but cannot show it to others. Requires patience, communication, and trying to understand from another’s point of view in order to recreate the story’s sequence.

Some resources:

Page 1 with random pictures,  Page 2 with random pictures, Page 3 with random pictures, Page 4 with random pictures.

11.  Many more activities here http://marynabadenhorst.globalteacher.org.au/icebreakers/ 

and http://wilderdom.com/games/Icebreakers.html. 

More info on collaborative learning including activities, here: http://edtech.kennesaw.edu/intech/cooperativelearning.htm and here http://viigo.im/1baV

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I understand the terms ‘Digital Immigrant’ (anybody born before 1980), ‘Digital Native’ (Anybody born from 1980 onwards), and Ditital Settler (anybody  born before 1980 that adapted very well to using digital technology as part and parcel of their learning and teaching.)  I am also familiar with Tweeting on Twitter, and see myself as a resident of the Twitterverse, and if you have no idea what I am talking about now, you are probably Twit-less (someone that does not use Twitter).  I  found myself resorting more and more to my personal learning network (PLN) on Twitter to find answers to my questions.  It is wonderful to pose a question, and within minutes have the answers flowing back to me from all over the world.  I can sit in the comfort of my own home at any time of the day or night, and find out interesting facts or just funny factoids and indeed, I am following @factoid on Twitter just for that reason.  I smile at the silly reasoning of @duhism (someone that pokes fun at our otherwise logical assumptions).  I follow and learn from educators who freely share their resources, I celebrate some of their successes in class, and become aware of possible dangers or pitfalls when using E-Learning in schools. Most of all, I am no longer alone in my quest to move the critical mass of teachers towards using more technology in the planning of their lessons and their assessments.  So, here is my personal learning network below.  I want to thank each and every0ne of you for making my life as an educator so much richer.   And if you want to follow me, go to Twitter (http://twitter.com/), join, then click on Find People and look for marynabadenhors  … then just click the Follow button.  Go back to Twitter often, ask questions,  share your favourite websites, or just tell (tweet) others about your educational journey.  Do what we always tell our students to do: “Be brave, just take a risk and try it!”  Pretty soon, you will have your own little PLN.  Happy Twittering!

Note: Other pages on this blog that relate to PLN or Twitter in Classrooms:

• Personal Learning Network: http://marynabadenhorst.globalteacher.org.au/pln/
• Twittertools for Teachers:  http://marynabadenhorst.globalteacher.org.au/twittertools4tchrs/

Get your twitter mosaic here. (Follow this link for your own mosaic: http://sxoop.com/twitter/)

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Note: For another copy of this blog entry – please see my other  blog: http://me.edu.au/b/Maryna_Badenhorst/entry/fish_in_water

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As educators, we are with students most of their productive day.  If we get to know our students well, we may have to deal with issues within our students that impact on their learning, even though it has nothing to do with the content of what we teach.  One instance is when students are bullied or harassed, or for some reason start displaying symptoms of depression.  It may then be up to educators to support and help the students deal with the mental or psychological injuries that are left deep inside.  Perhaps the following two diary entries will give a little more insight in what people may face once they spiral down into the black hole of depression:

Diary Entry One:

                                       “I once read that reading books outside a dog is easy. But inside a dog you can’t read, because it is dark. I laughed about the silliness of that concept. Who would like to read a book inside a dog? What a silly notion!  Then one day, it is all too clear…the day you get to know what is commonly known as the ‘Black Dog’. It is depression, and it comes to you and sits with you in your circle of self worth, and just pants with it’s smelly breath, dribbling toxic spittle on your feet. It is always there, and it sits and stares at you whenever you try to do anything, until you feel guilty for leaving it alone and stop doing what you are doing, until you do nothing at all. It has yellow eyes that glow in the dark, and keeps you awake at night. It has a big mouth, and eventually, it swallows you whole. And then, you sit alone inside of this Black Dog. And then you realize that, yes, you can’ t read inside a dog. Or write. Or think. Or know anything about yourself. You find yourself trapped in a foreign and lonely place, with only the muffled sounds of your family and friends’ voices somewhere far, far away, and no-one is able reach you or to touch you. You sit there and wonder how many days and nights have gone by with the world going along its natural path, while you wonder where you will find a single dot of light to bring some hope, or a single candle to try and warm your whole being with.

And everything aches. It is sore to even breath.  The air is so thick, it sticks to your throat, suffocating….Some days, you wish you could just stop breathing, and make all this go away….”

Diary Entry Two (Three months after the first entry):

                    “Today someone sent me this video.  It is a ballet of a one-armed woman and a one-legged man. And suddenly, I found one little dot of light. Yes, these people lost a limb. So did I. I am not sure I will ever be able to pursue my previous life with the same passion…how can I? I am hobbling along like someone that lost a right arm or a whole leg! But look at these two dancers. They obviously have talent. They went through pain and distress. But they waited patiently until the wounds healed.  Then  they found someone that can help them to pursue their dreams. And through persistence and passion, they came back. They are dancing again. I have found an a sprinkling of hope, a little bit of music that touched me here deep inside this dark dog. Perhaps it will help me find a way out, back into the light, where I can read again. And dance.”

For emergency situations dealing with depression in Australia, go to:

Emergency Help

If you are feeling suicidal there are people who can help.

If you live in Australia please call

Emergency 000*

or

Lifeline 13 11 14

or

Kids HelpLine 1800 55 1800

and tell the person answering your call that you are thinking about suicide.

* If you are using a mobile phone and 000 doesn’t work, you can call 112 to access the Emergency Call Service. If you have a hearing or speech impairment and can access a TTY (teletypewriter), call 106 for the text-based Emergency Call Service.

Other support for Depression

1. With links to Primary Schools help, Secondary Schools help, Rural and Workplace help, personal experiences, indigenous support etc.: http://www.beyondblue.org.au/index.aspx?
2. Specifically for youth: http://www.youthbeyondblue.com/get-help/for-depression/
3. Links to professionals that can help: http://bluepages.anu.edu.au/help_and_resources/types_of_help/
4. What is depression?http://www.depnet.com.au/universe2/ and http://www.blackdoginstitute.org.au/public/depression/depressionexplained/index.cfm
5. Initial support for the depressed person, the people dealing with the depressed, and further steps: http://www.psychologyinfo.com/depression/help.html
6. Self help therapies: http://www.blackdoginstitute.org.au/public/depression/treatments/self-helpalternatetherapies.cfm

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I recently learnt a new term for teams that are functioning as a team, but the team members are not in one location: It is referred to as a Distributed Team.  These teams do ‘virtual work’ in ‘placeless offices’.  It implies the team members have access to technology that enables each of them to make regular and planned contact with the other team members, to create a situation where the team can function and reach the team’s goal, while the members are not actually seeing each other face to face.  The team members are not in the same geographic area, only in the same ‘mindset’ area. 

This is a reasonable concept, but is it only ‘good’ on paper?  Do we really have the ways and means to make the distributed team, work as a team?

As a coach, I am very aware of the big impact body language has on the outcome of communication and negotiation.  I understand the forming/storming/norming/performing phases of teams.  I know a group is not the same as a team, because in a team, there is no ‘I’.  And I am versed in Covey’s Habits of Effective People, so I understand the importance of  Synergy…so, how does a distributed team really work?

I contacted a few team members of different teams that work in this way, and came across the following Web tools that could assist Distributed Teams:

1. Distributed teams can make use of Wikis.  These are online document ‘folders’ where contributions can be invited from the team members, and are an essential part of making the team work.  The different pages in a Wiki could hold information ranging from the team minutes to ‘to do’ lists with the names of team members attached to the tasks, and can also include pages where other important documents like contracts, budgets, proformas, applications, newspaper articles etc., can be kept.  Wikis are available free or for a small financial investment.  Some free options are available from  http://www.wikispaces.com/, MediaWiki or DokuWiki.
2. For online collaboration in real time, use real-time Web2 tools like Skype, Dim Dim (Like WebEx or Elluminate, but free! http://www.dimdim.com/) Elluminate and WebEx (not free, http://www.webex.com/), or Thinkature (http://thinkature.com/), or http://www.kolabora.com/.
3. Using an online ‘office’ system where all the team members have access to the documents, music, photos etc., online.  One system that could fulfill this requirement is Glide (http://www.glidedigital.com/, with informtion video at http://g4tv.com/videos/26634/Glide/), and here is another: GroupSharp.com – Allows you to share lists, databases, file sharing, and wikis for your team.
4. Online brainstorming, using a forum where multiple users can collaborate and contribute their ideas at the same time, like using Mindmeister: http://www.mindmeister.com/, http://mywebspiration.com/,  or use an online bulletin board like http://www.stixy.com/
5. Instant messages and SMS, as well as E-mail and Twitter, can keep the team members informed of more immediate decisions made, or changes in plans or direction.
6. Online collaboration by working together on documents: http://www.instacoll.com/ and Google Docs , Etherpad and ThinkFree (for links to these tools go to http://mashable.com/2009/02/21/online-document-collaboration/).   Another option can be found at  http://www.teamworklive.com/
7. Tracking goals after tasks have been assigned: http://www.myschoolbinder.com/, http://www.teamworklive.com/,  or issue trackers like JIRA, Trac, or Redmine.  For those less-development oriented, choose something tailored only to project management, like Basecamp,  and LiquidPlanner.
8. To get feedback, use online surveys e.g. at http://www.surveymonkey.com/.
9. Create a custom web page for your team, e.g. using http://www.nexo.com/.
10. Make team members part of a their own social network, using free software like http://www.boonex.com/.
11. Find, highlight and share online resources via http://www.diigo.com/.
12. For another comprehensive list of tools refer to http://mashable.com/2007/07/22/online-collaboration/ ,and for another professional reading with lots of comments and suggestions go to http://www.readwriteweb.com/enterprise/2009/07/four-essential-apps-for-distributed-teams.php

Other tips

1. Ensure all team members are aware of the regular meeting times.  These meetings should take place when all team members can attend via the online forum.
2. Ensure someone is in charge of reminding team members of the regular meetings, either via email, SMS or Twitter (or all three.)
3. Ensure someone is in charge of taking notes of meetings, and posting it where all team members have access.  Let team members know where the notes are posted.
4. Ensure an agenda for meetings, and a time keeper during meetings, so the meetings can move forward at a reasonable pace.
5. Have clear goals and targets, and assign specific team members to specific targets.  Keep track of their progress by direct contact as well as requiring them to log their progress where other team members can access the progression towards the goal.
6. Record meetings where possible, so team members that miss out, can access the meeting later.
7. Celebrate small successes along the way.  A good way is to blog about what you have achieved, post photos of video clips, and invite team members to contribute via comments or their own posts on the blog.  The collaboration will support the development of a team spirit.
8. Wherever and whenever possible, plan for in person team meetings.
9. Enjoy the journey.

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One of the wonders of Web2 is that it allows teachers to constantly find new and exciting ways of integrating technology in  classrooms.  Here is one interactive way of using online tools to encourage students to make their own sentences to compliment a picture:
http://piclits.com/compose_dragdrop.aspx 

This site provides many different images (to pick an image, just click on the rolling bar of pictures on the top of the screen), and students then drag and drop from a bank of words, or write their own sentences (’freestyle’), onto the image.  The sentences the students make, will reflect their thoughts about the image.  The finished product can be saved on the web in the gallery, blogged, saved on computer or emailed, so it can be shared with other students or parents.

Here is a comment regarding PicLits: “Thanks for discovering Piclits and the posting above.  A “PicLit” is a combination of words placed on a photograph to capture the essence, story, and meaning of the picture”.  PicLits include not only sentences (simple, complex, and compound) but, poems, verse, captions, stories, rap, quotes from books, music, etc…..  It is FREE. The words and photos change daily. The carousel of photos also changes whenever you return to the home page.  DRAG-N-DROP is an excellent teaching tool for grammar, punctuation, spelling, and vocabulary.  FREESTYLE allows the user to use their own words. We have a suggestion column on the side of Freestyle.  You must register (penname) to save your PicLits to “MY PICLITS” and to be viewed in the GALLERY and commented upon.  I hope this helps.
I welcome feedback and ideas.  Thanks in advance.
Terry Friedlander, founder ( terry@piclits.com )”

Here are a few examples of PicLits we made:
See the full PicLit at PicLits.com

See the full PicLit at PicLits.com

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Suppose you wrote this sentence on the board: “The big black dog ran over the road and and caught the yellow ball.”  Next, you ask the students to copy this sentence down, and as you roam around the classroom, you notice the kids are writing some funny things in their books, ranging from: “The dog road the ball,”   to “dog caught ball” , “black ball”, “dog ball”, “black yellow” or even just “the the”.  Of course, none of the sentences the kids wrote, makes any sense.  As a teacher, would you be telling the kids to stop taking shortcuts and write down the full sentence so as to convey the true meaning of the sentence?  I would imagine so. 

But what happens in Mathematics?  Do we expect the same “full sentences” from the kids?  And if we don’t, what impact does it have on the understanding of the Mathematical concepts?  Here is an example:  The teacher put the following example of Pythagoras’ Theory, on the board:

In following “all the same steps” (as per instruction from the teacher), see below what the student wrote in his book.  Please note that the student did not write ‘full sentences’, as he wrote that ‘eighty five is equal to nine point two’, which is not true.  He also did not put the full steps in to ‘find the perimeter’, which means that if he made a simple calculation mistake in finding the perimeter by adding the three values, he would loose all the marks for this question:

My question is: Why do teachers allow students to get away with not writing ‘full sentences’ in Mathematics?  Referring back to the example of “The big black dog….” given at the start of this post, it is clear that, if we don’t write the full sentence, it makes a huge difference in the meaning.  Mathematics is a language, like English.  It conveys meaning.  Students are being made aware of the implications of not writing full sentences in English…and the same should apply to Mathematics.

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Filed under: Coaching, Education around the world, Education in Victoria, Mathematics, Teaching and Learning, Uncategorized

In years gone by, many schools were designed with smaller windows to ensure that not too much energy were wasted (by escaping through big windows)  on heating or cooling of the learning environment.  However, there has been a shift afway from this practice in recent times, mainly for three reasons:

1. Energy conservation:  The improvments made in insulation with double glazed windows and better tinting, allows for natural light to enter the learning environment through windows, and so energy is saved by having electric lights turned off during daytime, while heating and cooling are not affected by bigger windows. 
2. Flow of light:   Daylight gives off a continuous spectrum of all light wavelengths, including blue, red and green, appearing as a bright white. Daylight is the standard for color quality in lighting, with a Color Rendering Index (CRI) of 100. Daylight is free – the most energy efficient source of illumination.   In contrast, fluorescent lamps give off a discontinuous spectrum – a flickering light, with spikes of color, with  a CRI from the low 50’s to 86.  This has been shown to overstimulate the brain of some students, leading to epileptic episodes.
3. The effect natural light has on student academic outcomes and on task behaviour:  Experiments with natural light versus electric light, clearly demonstrate a correllation between higher academic performance and the use of natural light in learning areas.  One example is the analysis by the Heschong Mahone Group, noted in the excerp from http://www.ergo-eg.com/uploads/books/lightingforlearning.pdf:                      “This  analysis studied elementary school students in districts from three different states: California, Washington, and Colorado. Although each district had different curriculums, building designs, and climates, students were found to perform significantly better on standardized tests in classrooms where windows and skylights let more daylight in the classroom. In the California district, where test data was available for comparing scores from the beginning and end of the school year, it was shown that, after controlling for a variety demographic and educational variables, students in the most daylit classrooms improved 20 percent in math and 26 percent in reading than the students in classrooms with the least daylight.  A re-analysis of this study, completed in February 2002, sought to discover whether better teachers were being assigned to more daylit classrooms and also searched for differing effects by grade level. New information was added about teacher characteristics to the original data set. No teacher bias or grade level effect was found. The reanalysis only reinforced the robustness of the initial results and emphasized the power of the daylight variables. A similar, though smaller, study in North Carolina also found improved student performance associated with daylit classrooms in both elementary and middle schools. These and other studies have motivated the U.S. Department of Education and many state departments of education to strongly encourage the use of daylight in the design of new school buildings.” 

 For another example stating the relationship between improved student behaviour and natural light, please refer to the colour ‘Blue’ in this web post: Colour for learning.

Other important factors to remember in designing classrooms, is the other light sources now seen in classrooms, e.g. computer screens, interactive whiteboards, calculator screens, desktop monitors, etc.  These light sources are not always healthy for students, especially when used to replace good light sources.  Eyesight can be damaged, and flickering screens can also have a detrimental effect on students with underlying health issues like epilepsy, or mild autism.  Students should be encouraged to take regular breaks from looking at these light sources, by e.g. installing software on computers that will flash warnings to students to get up and move around after a set period of looking at the computer screen.  Screen savers should be dark and preferably monochromatic, with few or no flashing areas.  If possible, computer screens should be covered, or computers switched off, when computers are not used for periods of time.  It is also important to ensure enough natural light enters the classroom through big windows or skylights, so students can see their work, but not be blinded by sunlight.   This is a better option than electric lights which will reflect off the screens and blind the students.  One popular solution is to provide indirect lighting, with most of the light reflected off of the ceiling from pendant-mounted fixtures. Since light is reflected, an efficient installation requires 80% reflectivity for ceiling materials and 65% reflective paint for major walls. (http://www.designshare.com/Research/Lighting/LightingEnvr1.htm)

Artificial light sources should be as close to natural spectrum light as possible.  Low intitial costs should not be used as a reason to compromise in this area, as it could have long term effects on the outcomes of students that spend significant amounts of time in that area.  In conclusion it could be said that teachers will know how to manage the amount of light in the classroom, intuitively.  It is always better to use curtians, blinds and reflectors to manage light during the day, and try and limit putting posters and other stationary objects in front of the windows so as to limit permanently cutting out the natural light.

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These days, a lot of schools in Victoria, Australia, are spending millions of dollars on creating “learning neighbourhoods” or “learning studios”.  In these open spaced areas, a lot of the focus falls on creating environments (spaces) for groups of students where they feel safe to take risks with their learning.  The influence of ’space’ in the learning, now comes into play. I am aware of the importance of a more unified approach to highlight the importance of aspects like furniture (grouping of and design of), colour, lighting, floor covering and natural light areas, to drive the designs and planning of these learning areas. 

I have been interested in how the physical aspects can impact on the learning that takes place in the learning spaces.  I will write a series of blog entries that focus on each aspect individually.  I have already touched on one aspect, namely ‘Music’ for learning (previous blog post).  Today I would like to look at Colour and the role it plays in promoting different kinds of learning.

Colour for learning

We are six billion people living in a color-drenched world.  Researchers believe that there are between one million and seven million colors that the human eye can distinguish.  According to Berlin and Kay’s linguistic study, eleven basic color terms that fall into three classes are listed:

Black, gray, white (achromatic color terms)
Red, green, blue, yellow (primary color terms)
Brown, orange, purple, pink (secondary color terms)

Obviously people distinguish between different hues of colour.  For a more in depth discussion on this topic, please visit http://www.colormatters.com/words.html.  If you would like to express your views on colour and find out what other associate with different colours, take part in this colour survey: http://express.colormatters.com/colorsurvey/

Color in the learning environment provides an unthreatening