Technology, But Make It Purposeful

The Triple E Framework

*image generated with nanobanana by Gemini

@LisaBerghoff

I was having a conversation with some teachers last week and we were talking about the issue we see, especially with our freshmen, with their inability to focus and attend in class. One teacher looked me in the eye and said- I know what I'm about to say goes completely against your belief system. She then proceeded to talk about how technology use in children is problematic. This made me twitch a little bit. I agree. Technology use in children is a huge problem. The comment to me about my belief system made me wonder. Have I given the impression that I personally believe that technology should be used for all things at all times?  This is most definitely not what I believe at all. In fact, I believe the opposite. I believe that if we are using technology there should be purpose behind it. I see a large part of my job helping teachers determine when it's best to use, and not to use, technology with students. 

What is important to remember is that we must be intentional with our technology use.

There are several frameworks designed to guide effective use of technology in education. Some that are well known are SAMR and TPACK. These are helpful when thinking about how technology is best used. The assumption is that the tech

But they don't answer the question: 

How is using this technology helping my students learn? 

I was thrilled when I learned about the Triple E Framework.

What Is The Triple E Framework?

The Triple E Framework, developed by Liz Kolb in 2011, was created to help bridge the gap between education technology and teaching practice in the classroom. It is meant to be a coaching tool to help you make decisions about instructional choices and technology use. What I love about it is that it is simple, concrete, and ensures that the use of technology is in service of student learning. The Triple E stands for Engage, Enhance, Extend. There are questions to answer within each of those that can help you determine whether or not technology should be used for a given learning activity. 

How Does The Triple E Framework Work?

The rubric is a wonderful guide. For each area, Engagement, Enhancement, and Extension, there are three questions to respond to. Simply assign a zero, one, or two for each question. Zero indicates no, One is used for sometimes, and 2 is used for yes. When you have completed all nine questions, add up the score. If your number is thirteen or higher, that indicates and excellent connection between the learning goals and the digital tool. If the score is between seven and twelve, there is some connection. If the total comes to six or lower, the connection between the tool and the learning goals is low, definitely do not use technology for this lesson or switch to a different tool. 

Here are the questions being asked: 

Let's not throw out the good because of the bad.

We are all super annoyed that the kids are constantly playing games on their chromebooks. It's frustrating when we want them to be on task and they are jumping from tab to tab. Our natural inclination is to police what's going on by blocking and closing tabs. What if we found a way to be intentional about technology use in our classes? Students don't have to come into class and immediately open their chromebooks. Perhaps your bellringer activity is an in-person conversation or a paper and pencil task. If we make it clear that when we are using technology there is a good reason and purpose for it, then we are modeling how we want our students to be thinking about their own technology use.

Are you ready to figure out how to be more intentional around technology use in your classes? Want to chat about it? I'm happy to help.

 

 But How Do We Know They're Thinking?
Snorkl: Instant Feedback On 
Authentic Student Thinking

@LisaBerghoff

With all of the new technology swirling around our learning spaces, it's easy to get lost. They each promise great things, especially the AI tools. Most claim that they will save teachers so much time. They also say that students will be thoroughly engaged, and that student learning will improve. These are all things we want. One of the issues is that these are variables that are very hard to measure. While it's easy to get caught up in the new shiny tools that are promising big things, it's most important to keep our compass pointed at student learning, specifically higher level thinking. That's why I'm so excited to share about Snorkl, which uses AI to help give feedback on student thinking. 

What Is Snorkl?

Snorkl is a platform that allows students to record and share their reasoning, then they receive instant AI powered feedback to push deep and meaningful learning. 

How Does Snorkl Work?

You create a problem, question, or prompt for your students. You can also select one that has already been created. Students then record themselves solving the problem or answering the question while explaining their reasoning. They have access to a white board where they can draw, type, or write as they speak, The AI reviews the student's explanation based on the guidance you have provided and provides the student with personalized feedback. 

How Do I Get Started With Snorkl?

Start off by navigating to snorkl.app and use your school Google account to log in. 

If this is your first time using Snorkl, I suggest you choose an activity to experience as a student. Choose "Try A Sample Activity".

When you're ready, you can find an activity that has already been created or you can create your own. Here are the steps:

1. Click on "Create An Activity"

2. Give it a title and then choose the student response type. You have 4 options: Whiteboard recording, whiteboard only, audio only, and writing. 

3. Add your activity. This can be an upload of a file like a pdf, or you can type the instructions. 

4. Click "AI Feedback Settings" to tell the AI how to give feedback on student responses. You can use the "Generate from Question" feature or you can enter it manually. 

You now have the option to try your activity as a student or to go ahead and assign it.

When you are ready to assign, you will add it to a class that you have created. You have some settings you can adjust such as whether or not to allow the whiteboard to translate to other languages. You can also limit the number of attempts and allow students to see each other's anonymous responses after they have submitted.

Once assigned, you will get a link to share with your students via Schoology. 

Here is a short video overview:

After your students complete the assignment, you will be able to see their responses in your Snorkl dashboard. You can see their scores, how many attempts they made, and review their responses. You can also click on "Insights" to get general information about how the class did.

From here, you can edit the activity if you want to give more practice or provide more scaffolds.

You have the ability to see all of your activities. You can see class progress as well as looking at individual students.

Why Should I Try Snorkl?

We know that students can sometimes fall through the cracks. With a tool like Snorkl, none of your students can hide in the back and phone it in. This really requires students to use their voice and show their thinking in a way that many other tools do not. Also, Snorkl lends itself to content areas that other AI tools don't do so well. If you are working with math and science, I really think this is where Snorkl shines. 

If you want to see how it works and get some help getting started, please reach out to me. I'm happy to help!

Gemini Is At Your Fingertips!

@LisaBerghoff

If you are still wondering whether or not AI will catch on, that train has long left the station. Want to believe it's not true? Go ahead, but you will be doing yourself and your students a massive disservice. Our students are soon to be launched into the world and eventually the workforce with technology that we could not even imagine when we were studying to become educators. The reality is that today's AI is the worst version we will see. It will only get better and it will become more and more embedded into the technology we currently use. I'm sure you have noticed that when you Google something you are now presented with an AI summary of an answer before you see links to click. AI is becoming less and less about chatbots and more about being the hidden engine behind many tools and objects we use everyday. 

I have written several posts about Google's Gemini and NotebookLM in the past twelve months because we have new features and capabilities available to us on a regular basis. One of the major selling points on using Gemini is that all of our data is protected and not used to train the models. That makes Gemini the perfect AI tool to use to teach our students about responsible AI use. 

Now, Gemini can be found embedded into many Google products that we use so you no longer need to go to Gemini in a new tab. Let's take a look.

Gemini in Google Docs

While in Google docs, you will now see several Gemini options.

First, in the upper right corner you will see the Gemini symbol. click it to open Gemini in a side panel and get questions answered about the content of you document. You can also use it

to brainstorm, get suggested edits, and generate content.

• Next, when creating a new document, at the top you will now see  a "Generate Document" icon. Click here and a window will open up where you can enter a prompt and Gemini will help you format and create a document for a specific purpose. You can also click on "Help Me Write".  Explain what you are trying to write and let Gemini be your writing assistant. 

Gemini In Google Slides: 

Go to create a new slide deck and you will now see that you can use Gemini to get started. 

If you open an existing slide deck, you can click the Gemini symbol to open in a side panel. Just describe what it is that you want and Gemini will attempt to create it for you.

On some slides, you will see the NanoBanana symbol and the ability to "beautify this slide". Click on it and you will be presented with some options. 

NOTE: The slides that are generated using NanoBanana are images and you are currently unable to edit the text. I predict that this will change in the future.

Gemini in Google Forms:

Go to create a new form and you will now have the option of having Gemini take a stab at creating it for you. If you skip this step and decide you want it back, just click the icon that looks like a piece of paper with a baby Gemini symbol on it.

What about Google Sheets? Gmail?

I am told that Gemini within Google sheets and Gmail will be rolling out in the coming months.

The takeaway here is to recognize that more and more, AI is not going to be a separate thing. It is going to be embedded in the tools we use, much in the way AI is already embedded in so many of our day to day components like Netflix, Google Maps, smartphones, smartwatches, and smart thermostats. 

Are you feeling hesitant but curious about using AI tools in school? Good! I would love to have conversations and also show you how to leverage AI to help you help students. Feel free to reach out!

It Doesn't Have To Be So Hard!

Flippity

@LisaBerghoff 

I was recently asked about what it is that makes me want to do things that are physically and mentally demanding. Actually, the words that were used were "what's wrong with you?". I guess I like the challenge. I like to set a big goal and then see if I can accomplish it. This comes with a downside though, sometimes I get stuck in this mode where I think for something to be worthwhile, or to succeed, the process must be at least a little bit painful. In other words, if it doesn't feel hard, it must not be working. While we know that being pushed out of your comfort zone is where real progress happens, sometimes we take this too far. You can be out of your comfort zone and not be completely miserable the whole time. This reminds me that in school, we can be working hard without feeling like we are drowning all the time, if we employ the right tools to help us. 

That's why I often turn to tools like Flippity. The site is packed with small, simple classroom tools that can have a big impact. 

What Is Flippity?

Flippity.net is a free educational website that turns Google sheets into interactive, customizable learning tools. This includes flashcards, quiz shows, digital games, classroom management tools, digital breakouts, and more. There is no registration, login, or account needed. You don't need to have Google sheets set up because there are templates on Flippity that are already formatted for you to use. 

How Do I Use Flippity?

1. Go to Flippity.net to get started. Take a look at the options. New activities are being added regularly. 

2. For each activity, you can click on "Demo" to try it out yourself. This is very helpful and highly suggested. You will get to see exactly how the activity works before setting it up and using it with your students. 

3. When you have decided what activity you want to use, click on "Instructions". Some of the activities have a "quick and easy" method. Others have very easy to follow step-by-step directions followed by a FAQ section. 

Each activity is self contained and you will have a link ready to go to use in class. 

When Should I Use Flippity?

The tools within Flippity tend to fall in a few categories. These might help when making decisions about when to pull these activities out of your toolbox. 

• Study Aids: Flashcards, matching games, memory activities
• Games And Activities: Jeopardy-style quiz, bingo, crosswords, breakouts
• Classroom Tools: Random name pickers, randomizer wheels, scavenger hunts, seating charts
• Organization: Leaderboards, progress indicators, certificate creators

What Flippity Activities Should I Try?

I'm so glad you asked! There are a few that I have been using on repeat lately.

Random Name Picker: I call this the spinny wheel. So easy you can set it up in less than a minute. You don't have to put names in there. Add characters, numbers, settings, or anything where you don't really care what the outcome is. Click on the wheel and watch your students get invested. I don't know why it works, but it does. 

Flippity Flexcards: These are 10-sided multimedia flashcards and they are a powerful study and organization tool. Click on the demo first to see how they work. 

Flippity Randomizer: This reminds me of a slot machine for words or symbols. You could add numbers, math symbols, or anything else that fits with your content. This is a powerful tool for practice. 

Mobile Friendly Leaderboard: Sometimes you need a cool leaderboard for your students who are motivated by seeing their name climb to the top. This one has a spreadsheet template that is easy to follow so you'll have your leaderboard up and running fast.

Are you using Flippity? What are your favorites? Ready to get started with Flippity but want some help? Let me know. I'm happy to help get you up and running with Flippity. 

What To Do With AI

EduGems- created by Eric Curts

@LisaBerghoff

It's not just us, living in the education space, that are being inundated with AI powered products. In every possible category, AI is finding its way and creeping into some of the most unlikely places. AI enhanced bottled water? AI powered bird feeder? AI designed perfume? Yes, these all exist. When we are confronted with the ridiculous it is easy to want to turn away, excuse it all as a marketing scheme, and go back to doing things the way we have for the past 5, 10, or even 20 years. I have the benefit of many years of life experience and I can confidently say that absolutely nothing is all good or all bad. I'm open to being challenged on that if you want to have a conversation. Many of the educational tools that we are seeing very much rely on sound pedagogical practices, clear learning goals, and high expectations. As Gemini is quickly rising to the top as the generative ai tool of choice for education, (we'll see if it stays there), you might be wondering what it is that you are meant to do with it.

I'm excited to share with you a site that was created to help you.

It's called EduGems and it was made by my friend and colleague, Eric Curts. 

What Is A Gem?

Gemini is the generative AI tool created by Google and it meets our privacy standards so that means that it won't use your information to train its models. It also has a pedagogical lens that makes it ideal for teaching and learning. A Gem is a pre-made prompt that can be saved so you can use it over and over again. There are some pre-made gems that you can find when you go to Gemini. You can also create your own. Gems that are created can be shared with others. While in Gemini, you will see Gems in the left side panel. Click to open it and take a look at what is already there. 

What Is EduGems?

EduGems is a site built by the amazing Eric Curts from Ohio. He's smart, a great teacher, and an all around great guy. He built several Gemini Gems designed for educators and he put them all on this site. When you click on one of the links, you will see a link to try out the Gem, another link to copy the Gem, and then also a short description. When you make your own copy, you also have the opportunity to edit and tweak the Gem to make sure it fits your needs. These custom prompts can turn your Gemini into an AI assistant that will do what you want without needing to be a perfect "prompt engineer".

He has the Gems organized by categories: curriculum, literacy, student activities, assessment, support, and professional tasks. Because he's Eric, he also has a tab for his tutorials if you want to learn more. He also has a form where you can submit your own Gems for sharing on his site. More collaboration, less frustration, that is the way to win at this AI game.

How Do I Access EduGems?

Just go to edugems.ai/home to check them out. 

Here is the Bell Ringer Gem in action:

Want to learn how to make your own gems? Want to talk about AI and appropriate use? Want help talking to your students about AI? I'm here for all of it! Feel free to reach out. I'm happy to help. 

 See It All At Once! 

Split Tabs In Google Chrome

*Image created using NanoBanana Pro

@LisaBerghoff

There are so many technological advances that are appearing at a lightning fast pace, both in education and also just in our everyday lives. Remember when gps needed to be updated and it did not account for traffic? It wasn't that long ago. There are some changes that are huge, like the emergence of AI. But I really like to appreciate the little things. Those small but powerful adjustments to tools that we already use that just make them better, easier to use, or more conveniently located. Those are the ones I get most excited about. I had someone in my office about a week ago and I said: "Want to see something fun?" and she replied, "Will I think it's fun?". Fair question! I showed her this feature and she did in fact agree that it was fun, and also useful. 

That's why I am thrilled to share the Split Tab option that is now available in Google Chrome.

What Is Split Tab View?

Split view in Chrome allows you to see multiple tabs all on the same screen. It lets you choose two tabs that will both occupy space on your screen. You can also adjust the ratio of each tab in case you only need to see a smaller section of one tab and a larger section of another. 

How Do I Use Split Tab View?

1. Move your cursor up to a tab that is already open in Chrome.

2. Right click on the tab (or 2 finger tap if you are using a trackpad)

3. Choose "Add Tab To New Split View"

4. You will see your screen split into two sections. Now you can click and choose the other tab you want open on the other side. 

To configure the ratio, hover and then click in the center and slide over to make one side larger or smaller.

To go back to regular view, go to the tab and right click and choose "Arrange Split View-> Separate Views". From the Arrange Split View menu, you can also reverse the views, close just the left or just the right.

Why Would I (or my students) Use Split Tab View? 

Ok. I hope you hear no judgment in my voice when I tell you that I know we all have tons of tabs open. I do too. Think about what our students are dealing with. Some of us have an assignment sheet or a calendar with dates and links on it. Going back and forth between instructions and actually doing the work is a barrier that we absolutely can remove for our students. Maybe you would like your grade book open while you are grading. Perhaps there is an article that you are reading or a video you are watching and you would like to take some notes. My guess is that I haven't even scratched the surface of what is possible with this cute little feature. 

Are you ready to give Split Tab View a try? Can you think of other helpful uses for this tool? I'd love to hear how you and your students are using it!

Keep Curiosity Alive!

The Kids Should See This

@LisaBerghoff

It used to be that it was challenging to find content to show and use in the classroom. It was a problem. Educators had to know just the right search terms, dig through catalogues, and watch countless hours of junk to finally get to a video that was worthy of showing to students. Often, the topic or the content of the video would be excellent, but the production quality would be terrible. Sometimes the opposite was true. Now, we find ourselves in the reverse situation. It is so easy to create high quality videos quickly. Videos are being created at such a fast pace that it is hard to keep up. There are so many videos out there that are good, and the length is right, and the content is on point; but we once again find ourselves spending so much time vetting these videos because anyone can look like an expert.  YouTube has become a valuable resource, but also a huge source of frustration. Our students spend so much of their time consuming videos without intentionality that much of their curiosity seems to have gone by the wayside. 

I recently was introduced to a site that houses a library of curated videos designed to spark curiosity and start conversations. The Kids Should See This stands out as a site that has engaging videos but also one that is designed around all of the things we want for our students: to promote awe and wonder, to lift up the work of real people, museums, and universities, who are doing incredible things. There is no algorithm here, every video is vetted by a real person who is also an educational media curator who is also a mom. 

What Is The Kids Should See This? 

The Kids Should See This is a website that houses over 7.000 short-form videos designed for the classroom. There are over 2,700 searchable topics spanning STEM, the arts, nature, history, culture, and more.  Over 2,000 featured museums, artists, universities, experts, innovators, and creators are represented. The videos are organized by topic, searchable, and it is easy to find the most recently added content. 

Why Should I Use The Kids Should See This?

The site sets itself apart from other video creation sites because it is completely independent, free, and embodies all that can be good about utilizing technology in education. The site is guided by public media's mission- universal access to quality educational content. There are no adds, no distractions, and no extras. Each video is accompanied by a short piece of text to provide some context. The Kids Should See This is on a mission to turn screen time into genuine discovery time and encourages co-watching as a springboard for face to face discussion. There is no need to log in. If you want to support the site, you are encouraged to make a donation but there is nothing required to use it. Since there is no login, you can safely ask your students to use it because no information is being collected. 

How Do I Use The Kids Should See This? 

This is very simple. Just go to thekidshouldseethis.com and start exploring. Hover over the topics to see a drop down menu of subtopics in each category. You can also use the search feature to look up a specific topic. If you think there is nothing there that is relevant to your content, I highly suggest you click on More Topics, where you can see an A to Z menu of all video collections. I did a fun activity for myself where I typed in many many topics that I know are covered and discussed in our classes. I also tried to see if there was a search term that would yield no results at all, the word "burpees" came up with zero hits. It took me a long time to find one. 

When you find a video you would like to use with your students. All you need to do is click the link icon in the green sidebar and share it. That will take your students directly to the page you want them to see. This streamlines the process for your students, allowing for more time to just watch and think about the video, and less time searching. 

This is an excellent tool for:

• The beginning of a lesson. To spark interest and give everyone some baseline knowledge.
• The middle of a lesson, when students are struggling and could use a bit of a brain break without completely checking out.
• Towards the end of a lesson or unit as a wrap up, review, or extension to build on what has already been learned.
• During class, to help students reengage and to split up the time.
• As homework, to get students thinking about and wrestling with information in a way that is not high stakes.

Here is just one example, it's a three and a half minute long video about someone who built a prosthetic arm using legos. I can think of at least three different departments that could use this in class. 

Are you ready to get started with The Kids Should See This? You don't need any help with this one, but if you want someone to bounce ideas off of and think about the possibilities, I'm here for it! Feel free to reach out to me.