My ADE 2015 Institute Showcase 1-in-3

Sharing Your One Best Thing in 3 Minutes or Less

Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to attend the Apple Distinguished Educator Institute to welcome in the new ADE Class of 2015. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, the professional development experiences organized by Apple for the ADE Community are second to none. Not only was I thrilled to hear that my application was accepted to attend the Americas Institute in Miami, Florida, but I also had an opportunity to present another “1-in-3” ADE Showcase as I did last summer.

For those of you interested in checking it out, here is my ADE 2015 Showcase. Special thanks to Jon Orr, Sharon Drummond, and Peter Esperanza for capturing video for me.

Showcase Slides & Transcript

Hello Friends! My name is Kyle Pearce.

If you know me well, then it wouldn’t be surprising if I told you that I find stuff like…

this interesting. Unfortunately, when I try to share this passion with my students, I usually get reactions more like this…

[image of a scared dog]

Now, it is clear that lessons like these don’t do much to help. Unfortunately for my first class of students back in 2006, this is what “good teaching” looked like to me.

I thought that technology would improve student engagement, but realized quickly that …

simply substituting what I would write on the board and augmenting the delivery of my lesson improved the behavioural engagement of my students, it did little to nothing intellectually.

When I came to the conclusion that the traditional lesson format I had always used was due to familiarity rather than efficiency, I knew I had to make a change.

Now, lessons are delivered in a task based format allowing students to use the inquiry process to make connections to their prior knowledge.

Creating material involves snapping photos and capturing video on my iPhone to make math real. These resources are then modified and enhanced on my MacBook Pro using a variety of apps such as Keynote and Final Cut Pro to help students visualize the math we are learning prior to introducing their algebraic representations.

We also use a variety of iPad apps to make learning math more interactive and visual such as GoodNotes 4, which allows students to quickly annotate on the screen;

iBooks Author is a dynamic tool that makes it easy to create interactive content to leverage the natural curiosity in all of us; and, iTunes U makes creating professional development courses convenient for providing resources and establishing a continuous connection with the teachers I serve.

There are also a variety of math content-specific apps such as Dragonbox that help address abstract concepts like solving equations.

Using screenshots from the game, we can help students make a clear connection from the visual model given by DragonBox and extend this to an algebraic equation in which students are expected to solve.

Now, my focus has turned to how we can improve assessment. Rather than simply assigning marks for entire units that can get lost in an ABSTRACT sea of numbers…

…we can leverage technology to change how we assess our students.

The traditional method of assigning a grade and moving on is harmful; learning should not be limited to those who are able to master a topic on the first try.

To share this idea beyond our own classrooms, a newly minted ADE and I are teaming up with an innovative startup to make learning more like a game. Together, we are creating an app that will provide students with attainable targets, timely, ongoing feedback and growth opportunities in order to improve.

Moving forward, I’m excited to continue working with you, the ADE Community as we all strive to leverage technology to push our students to be masters of their own learning.

Thank You.

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