Using Inspiration in class
I have a wireless keyboard/mouse in my room. When we begin to brainstorm ideas I give the my TWiT (technology worker in training) the keyboard and another the mouse. Immediate ownership – whenever someone gives an idea I add their name or initials to the idea. That really catches them. Then as a class, we brainstorm ideas – for instance VODcasting. They each had to research a hotlist I sent them via email (I didn’t want them lost on the web). They then put five ideas about videoing they found into a forum on our class Moodle page. From there we pulled out the main ideas and placed them into four categories. (I am making a presentation for EARCOS later this month. Slide 16 of the power point details more of the process.) For other essays we write I go through the same process but then switch the Inspiration from the graphic organizer to “outline” form. Then I walk them through the process asking if it is organized the way we want it. Highlight where paragraphs would be put into place and then have them write. All in all I would say I have had an increase in student comprehension and quality of writing. MOST students get it, but I wouldn’t say all of them. One note of caution – I don’t let them change the graphics/icons until all the work is done. Too often they spend more time playing with the icons rather than completing the task at hand.
