Join James Simms (The EverLearner podcast) in conversation with Distinguished Professor Paul Kirschner of the Open Universiteit Netherlands. The conversation is a thorough examination of the use of feedback in the classroom. Paul and James cover levels of feedback questions, the timing of feedback, the differences between feedback, feed up and feed forward and the importance of corrective, directive and epistemic feedback. Original source here.
3D printing is a relatively new technology in schools. We know that 3D printers produce fumes and smells into the air during printing but how much do we know about the potential health risks associated with 3D printing?
3D printers release a variety of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) and Ultra Fine Particles (UFPs) into the air during the heating of the print filament. Two of the most common filament types are:
Others include: TPU (Thermoplastic polyurethane), an extremely flexible polyurethane based plastic, Carbon filament, Grass filament, Metal filament, Hemp filament and Beer filament.
Volatile Organic Compounds. “VOCs are a group of carbon-based chemicals that easily evaporate at room temperature. Many common household materials and products, such as paints and cleaning products, give off VOCs. Common VOCs include acetone, benzene, ethylene glycol, formaldehyde, methylene chloride, perchloroethylene, toluene and xylene.” Australia – state of the environment.
All filaments produce VOCs and UFPs. The amount and type is determined by the filament used and to a much lesser extent the type of printer used. ABS releases more toxic VOCs including styrene and formaldehyde, the first a suspected human carcinogen and the second a known one. Polylactic acid (PLA) is a corn-based plastic found in medical implants, drinking cups, and disposable diapers and emits methyl methacrylate, a mild skin irritant.
While PLA is considered a safer product than ABS, additives applied to PLA filaments to increase things like shine and electrical conductivity can change emissions significantly. It is also important to note that HEPA filters do not filter VOCs effectively or at all, only UFPs.
All filament types emit UFPs which are small enough to get into the lungs and blood stream and have been linked with respiratory and cardiovascular disease. A study by the Environmental, Science and Technology Journal showed that the highest UFP rates occurred with ABS filament and the lowest emissions with PLA.
At PBAS we use PLA filament and have 1 UP Box+ and 2 UP Mini printers which are in an enclosed space approximately 4m by 2.8m. This room has an air circulation vent and air conditioning system but no dedicated fume extraction system. All our printers are fully enclosed with HEPA filters that assist in reducing UFPs. Recent testing by the Built Environment Research Group at the Illinois Institute of Technology said the following about the UP Box+ enclosed filtering system:
While the longer term impacts of 3D printing in spaces like offices, schools and home environments are not fully known there are some things that can be taken from the current research:
If you use 3D printers now, or are considering their use in the future then it is important to consider how you can reduce any potential health risks to yourself and your students.
WHAT TEACHERS NEED TO KNOW ABOUT SAFETY AND AIR FILTERS RE: 3D PRINTERS IN SCHOOLS
Volatile Organic Compounds Ambient Air Quality 2016
New 3D printer test: Up Box+ Printer with HEPA filter
“Most questions are safe, that is they surface what is already seen or understood, they lead to regurgitated ideas and opinions. In other words, most questions people ask really surface what is already known. Top performers however, they ask questions that go deep. They ask questions that move us from automatic, reactionary thinking to deep thinking, they ask questions that inspire creativity, fuel passion and lead to profound ideas. Most importantly they ask questions that spur people into action.” Mike Vaughan, 2015
The success of a good answer relies on the words we choose. For example, when confronted with a challenge consider two ways you might look at the problem, 1. What should we do? (narrowing possibilities) or 2. What could we do? (widening possibilities). Mike Vaughan, 2015
Do the majority of questions we ask in the classroom fall into the safe category? That is, questions we know the answer to, with a high chance that some or all students will also know the answer. It isn’t that we shouldn’t ask safe questions, they are important and provide us with an insight into the level of knowledge students have. However, if these are the only types of questions we ask are we doing a disservice to our students?
When there’s a discussion about smartphones in schools people generally fall into one of two groups. One, you think the benefits outweigh the negatives and you are happy for students to use phones at school and access them when required for learning, or two, you think they get in the way of learning and distract students constantly throughout the day.
Read how one school has banned their use and how the Speaker of the Upper House and former teacher Shelley Hancock is proposing a national ban in schools for smartphone devices.
“Since late 2016 Willoughby Girls has imposed restrictions on smartphone use. From the time students walk in the gate they are expected to switch off their phones and put them in their pockets, where they must be left until they walk out the gates at the end of classes.” Sydney Morning Herald, 17 March, 2018
To read the full article click on the link below.
This article is written by Microsoft who supply laptops to schools so I will take it with a grain of salt that they don’t see the value of mobile phones in the classroom but I will say it does reflect my experience. I see little use in my HPE classroom for student mobile phones when we have access to school iPads and 1:1 laptops. My general experience is that across the school day phones distract considerably more than they influence learning.
The wheels are falling off technology in schools: Microsoft via @smh @PiccoliMp @philmcrae @GonskiInstitute https://t.co/hu8o7ifMqH
— Pasi Sahlberg (@pasi_sahlberg) June 11, 2018
We seem to blame screen time for everything – is there some truth in the following article or are we making tentative connections at best? As the article states “the research isn’t completely definitive”.
Jean Twenge: With teen mental health deteriorating over five years, there’s a likely culprit https://t.co/Ca1oXbVyWu (She will speak @UNSW on July 19th https://t.co/Ca1oXbVyWu) @GonskiInstitute @PositiveSchools @philmcrae @PiccoliMp
— Pasi Sahlberg (@pasi_sahlberg) June 6, 2018
Media Release: Australian parents are now more worried about their children using social media and technology than drugs, alcohol and smokinghttps://t.co/4omdD9FTmd
— ReachOut.com (@ReachOut_AUS) March 10, 2018
Quality formative assessment allows us to give quality feedback.
Thank you to Emily King (Northern Yorke Partnerships SLLIP coordinator) for speaking with us about feedback in week 4. It was a timely reminder that feedback, when done well, can have a significant impact on students learning. The majority of teachers at PBAS are familiar with Dylan Wiliam’s work attending his workshop in Port Pirie February 2014. At the time I wrote a post summarising his presentation. Click here to have a read. It was at this time we decided to focus on Formative Assessment as a focus for two years (2014/2015).
I remember how enthused teachers were after Dylan Wiliam’s workshop. This was evident in the 45 PBAS teacher comments attached to the post form February 2014. Click here to read through the comments or if you prefer read the following snippets:
Justin Brook (2014) – “Dylan William is an inspiration. We can’t ignore this I believe in the next 2 years we need to be addressing and implementing change and developing practice in all 5 areas.”
Valmai Skelton (2014) – “I like the way he clarified that it’s best to do one at a time so that it naturally becomes a part of your pedagogy. I have marked my notes so that I know which ones fit my class. I have also put a little sticky note in my programme to remind me to clearly let the children know the learning intention.”
Aaron Ward (2014) – “…would make a profound change to student outcomes if as a whole site we embedded it and made it part of a culture change.”
Jackie McLoughlin (2014) – “It was great day, one where I left feeling motivated and eager to make some changes and I have started already.”
Angela Ingram (2014) – “Having previously attended sessions run by Guy Claxton I found this to be a great follow up to our previous work. Learning some new techniques to use in the classroom that can be used with any age level was excellent. I found Dylan to be an enthralling speaker and the way he modelled his techniques throughout the day was brilliant.”
Paul Townsend (2014) – “My first goal was to use the “no hands up” concept at the start of ALL discussions. This instantly dragged in each student into the discussions. Not accepting a “don’t know” or stunned silence and then moving on was hard not to do but reaped results. I heard from students in my class that up until Thursday had been “silent” learners. I do still allow “hands up” to satisfy the desperate to share students in my class but after the discussion has gone on a bit. My next target is to make a class set of A,B,C,D (and E) cards to use for instant feedback for some whiteboard exercises.”
Tanya Hacket (2014) – “It is unlikely that I will go to another training and development conference this year which would be as motivating and inspiring. I am going to try the paddle pop sticks to encourage everyone to listen and participate and will also not accept a “I don’t know” – how to respond to that statement was one of the best parts for me – so logical, but I wouldn’t have thought of it – I have said, ‘Alright I will come back to you”, but never “Okay which response do you think is appropriate”.”
Tanya Hacket (2014) – “Wow, it is amazing how that one day has inspired so many to endeavour to embed formative assessment into their daily routines. I have loved reading about what everyone has tried and the reaction of students.”
Kelly Heading (2014) – “I was a little skeptical of Dylan’s suggestion to write a statement on the board rather than a question but was absolutely astounded at the reaction in my class. I ended up sitting back for a few minutes listening to them all chatter away about what I had written on the board. I asked them to prove me right or wrong and had an almost evenly divided class. They either believed I was wrong and confidently backed up why (I had deliberately written a false statement) or believed I was right “because Miss Heading wrote it”. We have a few things to work on here!”
Allan Cadd (2014) – “…the aspect I have tried was the pass out card. At the end of a science lesson I asked to students to write the answer to a question relating to what I had been going through on the board during the lesson. The answer took about a minute and the students then handed in the piece of paper with their name on it to me as they left. In less than 2 minutes I had sorted out into two piles those that had the correct answer and those that had it wrong. I then binned the responses, which was strange, but kind of satisfying as they had served their purpose.” …there was only one student in the class that was able to answer the question correctly, suggesting that my explanation was not thorough enough and that the students were not at a stage to work on these questions independently.”
Allan Cadd (2014) – “I am sitting here on sunday night after spending 5 minutes going through my first attempt of using exit tickets with my year 9/10 maths class. Quite frankly I would have to say that this is a revelation. The students who I knew would struggle as they often ask for help in the class due to having difficulties did struggle, but the other students with the exception of NONE also struggled, many who have said that they are doing well, generally answer questions in class discussions and are quite advanced through the set work.”
Roger Nottage (2014) – “It’s been great to read and reflect on the comments you have all made. I enjoyed the big picture messages gleaned from the day as well as the in classroom techniques. Personally I have a Year 8 Maths class in 2014. Loving it! I trialled an exit card on Thursday 6/2 and then used the data to form 3 groups, two explicit teaching moments (different concepts targeted) and one extension group. Yesterday I used thumbs up & down to get small groups to indicate their opinion about the accuracy of some problems a student had done on the whiteboard.”
It would be an interesting reflection process to see if what was developed during these two years is actually still being used in our day to day practice. How many of us have applied and maintained techniques like no hands up, exit tickets, mini whiteboards, corners, think pair share, two stars and a wish, carousel brainstorming, jigsaw, ABCD cards and basketball discussions? It is these formative assessment strategies that if implemented effectively give us the important information to provide quality feedback to our students about how they are going and where they can go next to improve.
Those that were not part of the Dylan Wiliam training can click here to access a range of resources on formative assessment.
Comments welcome.
Exploring sound in science with your students?
After teaching students about sound and how it works set students the challenge of amplifying your phone. Have students work in groups with each group presenting their ‘speaker’ to the class using your phone as the audio source.
Click here to access a lesson and resources on sound vibrations.
What is an authentic STEM project? Would creating a phone speaker satisfy the following criteria?
Jackie and Madeline have been working with the Year 3/4 class to create green screen videos using the Do Ink app. This is a simple and easy way to add interest and enhance a student’s presentation.
An extension of this activity could be the following as shared by @bhopteacher on Twitter. The student in the video has created their own African jungle diorama which has become the background for a presentation about owls.
Dioramas with a new twist! Using @DoInkTweets green screen app, students became part of their dioramas! Students wrote their scripts using Google Docs and decided on their own props. #K2CanToo #edtech #researchmadefun @TechCoachSusan @smalchow @Hachen2nd @TraciPiltz pic.twitter.com/g1pf2u7Spk
— Bobbi Hopkins (@bhopteacher) May 18, 2018
Rube Goldberg was born in 1883. In 1904 he graduated Berkley College as an engineer which eventually gave way to him becoming a sports cartoonist for the San Francisco Chronicle. He continued as an editorial cartoonist for the New York Sun and his fame came from a fictional character he created, Professor Lucifer Gorgonzola Butts. Through this character he would illustrate complex inventions later to become known as Rube Goldberg machines.
A “Rube Goldberg Machine” is an extremely complicated device that executes a very simple task in a complex, indirect way. rube-goldberg.com
How could you use the concept of a Rube Goldberg machine to create a STEM project if a STEM project is defined as the following?
Diagram provided by STEM 500 Primary Educators
Click here for an example STEM lesson building a Rube Goldberg machine (NSW Education Standards Authority).
Like to see more Rube Goldberg machines? Just click here!