Effective Teaching

In this episode Dan discusses hyperdocs and how they are a tool that can be used to create lifelong learners. A hyperdoc helps to engage students, create meaning for student learning, connect content to the real world, and to guide student reflections on their learning.Lifelong learning with Hyperdocs by Daniel Jackson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.Join the Facebook CommunityWhat is a hyperdoc?NOT just a document with linksIt is a reverse lesson or unit plan that:Provides students with choiceHas students collaborateDevelops creativityIncludes meta-learning (learning to learn)The focus is more on the pedagogical approach than the links in the documentCommonly include the terms:Engage (Identify the meaning in life of what is going to be learnt), Explore (begin to develop research skills following students own interests, Explain (explicit instruction, providing content knowledge), Apply (examine egs, analyse other perspectives, case studies, creating something AND I would recommend that this be in various contexts), Share (Their application is shared with others for feedback. So both themselves and others can reflect on what was produced. I recommend external audiences), Reflect (students then reflect on their learning process, what skills they applied or developed, how they overcame problems, identifying Ah Ha moments and how they became successful or NOT), and Extend (where do they go now, going deeper into the issues, connecting to overarching big life questions, linking back to the engagement, go further into the Whys?How does it create lifelong learners?The hooks into real world and meaning provide motivation and interestAllowing students to first explore on their own (with or without restraints according to ages) helps develop their own inquisitiveness, especially if you walk around the room and engage with this exploration. It can be the most important aspect of the learningProducing something that is shared is fantastic for the students. Suddenly they can see how learning can lead to creation, helping others, or something that others will engage with - this is key for entrepreneurial mindsetsFinally the reflection, I think I will do a whole episode on this, but as students reflect on the learning process, they are learning how to learn. The focus of the reflection is how they were or could be successful, what went wrong, how to overcome this and identify those learning strategies. This is Meta-learning in actionHow do you make one?Check out Hyperdocs.co they have heaps of scaffolds and a community that do hyperdocs. There is a Facebook group as well and this can become really transformational for yourselfFor me, I integrate them with my flipped mastery approach. Students work through them and the “explain” is my flipped video and so I am always moving around the room and helping the students regardless of where they are up to in the process, or even which hyperdoc they are using, ie which topic they are looking at.Then plan the lesson from the students perspective. Give them the choice of specifics, how they consume content and the context and tools used to create it. Allow them to choose their groups, chose the platform for sharing and connect what they are learning with their world, not just ours.It does take good planning and prep, but the rewards are great.Give it a go!Grab a scaffold and plan a single “lesson” or topic using the scaffold, even if it is just the Explore, Explain, Apply scaffold, it is a beginning.Then plan through your activities, look for opportunities for your students to take over their learning process, but having choice and voice. Put all the detail that the students need into the one hyperdoc, so they don;t need you to know what to do next. Then in your lesson, be the leader and assistant at the same time.

In this episode, I interview Janice Atkin and discuss how contextualising your practice can help to create life-long learners. This interview covers everything from surface and deep learning, to ways you can personalise learning for your students while still achieving the same learning goals.Contextualising your practice with Janice Atkin by Daniel Jackson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.Join the Facebook CommunityJanice is an education consultant, former Senior curriculum manager at ACARA for HPE and currently co-founder of inclusive schools Australia.Janice's WebsiteInclusive SchoolsWhat do you mean by contextualising teaching practices?Personalising our programs and classroom practiceMoving beyond presenting content and focusing on the deep learningConnecting what is being learnt to the student's real-life and providing meaningProviding choice in content consumption, critiquing, creating and reflectionWhat they do end up doing in a classroom is specific for them because they have chosen activities or they've combined it in different ways or they've linked it to things outside of the classroom that they are particularly interested in you don't actually have to do all that writing yourself.-Dan JacksonWhat does it look like in the classroom?Creating a buffet of options for students to select fromIt is NOT differentiated where "smart" kids do the deeper learning and the others do surface level. They all can choose from the options that cover both.Use a hyperdocKasey Bell talks about using Menu BoardsWe talk about this idea of creating a buffet of options and student then self select what they're going to take from the buffet.- Janice AtkinHow does it create life-long learners?It enables students to learn how to research, consume and critique the contentIt enables them to become teachers as they help each otherIt creates meaning to their learning, increasing their motivation to learn and experiences of success leading to students that identify as successful learnersIt creates a community for learning, not learning in isolationGive it a go!2 Step process:Identify the challenges, behaviours and decisions you are trying to influenceHelp students to develop the skills they need to effectively address those challenges, behaviours and decisionswhat are the challenges or the behaviours or a decision that kids are making that you're trying to influence... then start thinking about within your curriculum what are the skills and understandings that sit within your curriculum that are going to support students to effectively address those challenges decisions and behaviours.- Janice Atkins

In this episode, I interview Joel Anderson - Head of PDHPE at Newcastle High School, to discuss collaborative approaches in the classroom. Joel shares some of his approaches including the "Huddle and Pod" approach and discusses the importance of providing structure to the collaboration to ensure each student has a role. We also explain how collaborative approaches help students prepare for a life of learning as they prepare for life beyond the classroom.Collaborative Approaches with Joel Anderson by Daniel Jackson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.Join the Facebook CommunityWhat are collaborative approaches?The have students working together in groups of 2 or moreThey are structured with students working together with each student having a roleThey are situations where students work together towards the same goalsThe tasks should require high cognitive skills requiring collaboration. See this article on Collaboration and Cognitive load for more detailHuddle and Pod approachMuch like the jigsaw method. In this approach, students have a huddle - a group which is always the same for the whole term and they work together towards goals and discuss their learning together. The pods change each time but they are your groups that focus on the same activity or piece of content that once mastered is brought back to their huddle.How do collaborative approaches help create life long learners?Students develop people skills that can be used for learning later in lifeStudents are forced to take on a learning role and a teaching role while also working with others to expand their perspectives a begin to understand others viewpointsStudents begin to experience success in learning and realise they do not have to have all the answers, just be willing to find them.Where can you startStart small and "dip your toe in"pair discussionGroup work or research taskEvaluate how everything goes and adjust your approachMake sure students have a role in the learningLet go of the reins and let the class be noisy... be comfortable in the uncomfortable.

In this episode, Dan interviews Kelly Pfeiffer, looking at Project Based Learning. They discuss some of the key aspects needed to create a good PBL unit, how it helps create lifelong learners and how you can begin to use aspects of PBL in your classroom this week.Project Based Learning with Kelly Pfeiffer by Daniel Jackson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.Join the Facebook CommunityKelly Pfeiffer is the head-teacher for futures learning at Dubbo School of Distance Education. She won the Australasian Association of Distance Education Schools award for teaching excellence this year.  Her team also won the Technology 4 Learning Award this year. AND The Dark Sky education package that she developed with her colleague has been nominated for the international Dark Sky Defender AwardWhat are the key aspects of PBL to make it effective?Driving QuestionAuthentic AudienceFeedbackWhat makes PBL an effective teaching strategy for creating lifelong learners?Helping our students develop problem-solving skillsTeaching them to collaborate, be resourceful and resilientThe transfer of learningThe authentic learning process has a huge impact on the students and their future lifeHow can teachers begin to use PBL?Begin to use the key elements of project-based learning:Authentic audiencesReflective processesInquiry-based learning and driving questionsFurther resourcesAttend our upcoming Project-Based Learning workshop with Thom Markham Founder of PBLglobalYou can find lots of resources including online courses that are NESA accredited at the Project-Based Learning Global website. If you would like a closer look at the Dark Sky Education package that Kelly and Melissa developed you can find more information here