Putting the Pedagogy horse before the Education cart- a collaborative exercise for EdTech learners.

One of the problems with simple and attractive technology is that educators may jump in and start creating content before thinking about the pedagogical aspects.  This leads to the use of a technology in education because it is there instead of because it is the right tool to facilitate learning.

I was struggling to find a way to reinforce this concept for a workshop on Education Technology.  I thought of this collaborative exercise using Linoit.  Linoit is a dynamic online sticky note tool with a simple interface. Another similar tool is Wallwisher.  The two are very similar and this YouTube video does a nice job comparing the two.

If the participants will have access to the online Linoit site during the workshop, then follow these steps.  Otherwise, the facilitator will be doing all the note creation live based on feedback from the class.

Preparation:

  1. Create an account on Linoit.
  2. Create a new canvas
  3. Set up the preferences to allow anyone to post stickies
  4. Uncheck the box to list this as a Public Canvas
  5. You can create a short URL for the canvas and share with the class (www.bit.ly).
  6. If you like you can review a basic Linoit tutorial on YouTube.
  7. There is also a nice short document for some ideas and tips regarding setting this up the preferences in different ways and tracking who posted the stickies.
Instructions to the participants:
  1. You could share with them the same basic Linoit video but starting at 3 min 15 sec so they know how to create a sticky note.
  2. Ideally send this by e-mail prior to the workshop so they can click the link and review it before hand.
During the Workshop:
  1. Share the URL for your canvas with the participants
  2. In a large group discussion ask what the various steps for using technology in education should be. As participants make suggestions, create a sticky for each one.  Then lead a discussion on developing consensus on these steps and ordering them.  Once consensus is reached, pin these notes in place. 
  3. Now ask each participant (or pairs) to create stickies related to any of the steps.  The stickies will be signed as guest (so they are anonymous)
  4. Once everyone is done, lead a large group discussion on organizing the various stikcies under the appropriate steps.
  5. You could end up with something that looks like this.  Feel free to add more ideas if you want and place them under the appropriate step. 
  6. Remember this is about a collaborative exercise and not necessarily the final product.  The learning happens in the process and not in looking at the end product. 
You can go to the full screen canvas by clicking the link below (Not fully compatible with IE)
Steps For Creating eLearning
OR 
Play right here
  • Hover over the blue "Steps for creating ..." bar to get a sticky.
  • Drag an empty portion of the canvas around to navigate.