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How to Adapt Classroom Strategies for Virtual Learning

by Jason Poe
written by Jason Poe

The question of whether we should engage students has never been in doubt. We can engage students both virtually and in person in a variety of ways using gamification, interactives, and digital tools. But how do we adapt classroom strategies to virtual learning to boost engagement online? Back in 2022, our school decided to adapt seasoned strategies, like Kagan, to the 21st-century classroom in order to achieve virtual engagement. Let’s take a look at why we did it, and then how we did it.

Mixing Kagan Strategies with Hattie’s Research

Rewind to January 2022. At the time, my director was asking our instructors to increase their “teacher voice” in virtual classrooms, and the issue quickly became how to best do this. I had just been introduced to Dr. John Hattie’s amazing work, Visible Learning for Teachers. Dr. Hattie created a meta-study spanning thousands of studies to identify and share the effect size of educational techniques. Check out Evidence-Based Strategies compiled by TCEA’s Miguel Guhlin for more on why you should be using Hattie’s work.

Image of the METAx Website for John Hattie's visible learning research.
Visit Visible Learning MetaX

Our teachers were already carrying the district’s legacy professional training portfolio of Kagan, SDI (Specially Designed Instruction) protocols, and other strategies. The issue always returned to: how do we adapt classroom strategies for virtual learning? Due to my recent discovery of Hattie, I wanted to be able to quantify strategies we were using in class to determine which ones would most effectively achieve student engagement success; thus, our focus was synthesized. We needed to cross-reference the Kagan strategies with Hattie’s effect sizes to select the strategies with the highest impact on student success.

Image showing "Content + Strategy + Tech Tools = Virtual Engagement" as a guide for adapting classroom strategies to virtual learning

By focusing on the legacy professional development strategies, we found that the instructors were more receptive to the introduction of Hattie and his effect size numbering system. So, we took the vetted, seasoned strategies from Kagan, targeted specific strategies that reflected a high effect score from Hattie, sprinkled in a few veteran instructors versed in using our LMS, Canvas, and voila – virtual engagement training for our teachers was born!  

Virtual Engagement Training for Staff 

Skip forward to March 2022, and we planned a half day of in-person professional development for our staff. 

  • First, we assigned them to mixed-curricular groups to foster collaboration and the need to share based on experiences. 
  • Next, we gave each group Kagan strategies on 3” by 5” cards with a written explanation of how to achieve the strategy.
  • Group leaders chose three Kagan strategies to focus on out of the cards.  
  • Then, the groups dispersed into isolated areas to discuss the three strategies and brainstorm on how to transform them from face-to-face to virtual learning. 

In their isolated areas, each group had a large piece of butcher paper to write out their ideas for a post-activity a gallery walk. We also crafted a graphic organizer to align ideas across the groups. Within that graphic organizer, we further challenged our staff to adapt the Kagan face-to-face strategy to both a synchronous lesson and an asynchronous lesson since our Academy operates under the TXVSN (Texas Virtual School Network) framework.   

Graphic Organizer for Adapting Classroom Strategies to Virtual Learning
Graphic Organizer for Planning Virtual Learning

From the professional development half day, here is a sampling of the overall results. For the purpose of this sample, I pulled the three Kagan strategies Rally Coach, Round Robin, and Carousel Feedback to show. The staff had two tasks:

  1. Cross-referencing these three Kagan strategies with Hattie’s research 
  2. Determining how to apply them to both synchronous and asynchronous virtual learning 
A table of text from the article outlining the three kagan strategies Hattie alignment and plans for synchronous and asynchronous virtual learning.
Click here for the PDF.

Rally Coach 

Synchronous Virtual Implementation: 

Students are partnered and placed in breakout rooms in WebEx, allowing students to screen share and/or use the whiteboard feature for the coaching component of the strategy. 

Hattie References: 

  • Student Learning Strategy – Peer Tutoring (Effect Size: 0.51)
  • Student Learning Strategy – Rehearsal and memorization (Effect Size: 0.73)
  • Student Learning Strategy – Help Seeking (Effect Size: 0.72)
  • Teaching Strategy – Feedback, reinforcement, and cues (Effect Size: 0.92)
  • Teaching Strategy – Feedback, from student (Effect Size: 0.53)

Asynchronous Virtual Implementation: 

Students are grouped using Canvas’ group and grouping features and specific coaching tasks are assigned to each group. The lesson could be expanded to include Jamboard, Voicethread, or the Canvas discussion tool.  

Hattie References: 

  • All strategies listed for synchronous Rally Coach implementation
  • Student Learning Strategy – Deliberate practice (Effect Size: 0.79)
  • Teaching Strategy – Feedback, Tasks, and Processes (Effect Size: 0.64)

Round Robin 

Synchronous Virtual Implementation: 

Students choose teams using Canvas’ group tool and can use WebEx, Jamboard, Voicethread, or Padlet for collaboration. Students can use text, audio, and/or video for their responses. 

Hattie References:

  • Student Learning Strategy – Peer tutoring (Effect Size: 0.51)
  • Teaching Strategy – Collaborative learning (Effect Size: 0.39)
  • Teaching Strategy – Cooperative learning (Effect Size: 0.45)
  • Teaching Strategy – Feedback, from student (Effect Size: 0.53)
  • Teaching Strategy – Feedback, reinforcement, and cues (Effect Size: 0.92) 

Asynchronous Virtual Implementation: 

Using the Jigsaw method, the instructor can assign different tasks to the students for completion and group the responses in Canvas Discussions, Voicethread, or Jamboard. 

Hattie References:

  • All strategies listed for synchronous Round Robin implementation
  • Student Learning Strategy – Differentiation (Effect Size: 0.46)
  • Teaching Strategy – Jigsaw Method (Effect Size: 1.20)

Synchronous Virtual Implementation: 

The teacher creates two sets of student groups; then, tasks and roles are dispersed. Students provide feedback using WebEx, Jamboard, Voicethread, or Padlet. 

Hattie References:

  • Student Learning Strategy – Peer tutoring (Effect Size: 0.51)
  • Teaching Strategy – Feedback, from student (Effect Size: 0.53)
  • Teaching Strategy – Feedback, timing (Effect Size: 0.49)
  • Teaching Strategy – Peer Assessment (Effect Size: 0.44)

Asynchronous Virtual Implementation: 

The teacher assigns each student group an element of focus and then, using the Canvas Peer Review feature, students respond to each group’s submission. This can also be adapted to use Discussions, Voicethread, or Jamboard. 

Hattie References: 

  • All strategies listed for synchronous carousel feedback implementation
  • Teaching Strategy – Clear Goal Intentions (Effect Size: 0.51)

The overall effect of this process was positive and received well by our instructors. We saw, initially, anecdotal increases in student engagement because we were midway through the semester. Our current success data for the most recently completed term in 2023 is trending positively. Ultimately, this process of adapting classroom strategies for virtual learning is easily translated to any local education organization. I invite you to take and re-vision it, then share it. The more effective tools we skill our instructors with the better it is for all students!

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Educational ResearchGood TeachingInstructional CoachingPlanning and Preparation

Going Beyond SAMR: Models for Technology Integration

by Lydia Croupe
written by Lydia Croupe

During my experience in instructional technology, I noticed an evolution in understanding technology integration that goes from seeing tech as “something extra” (often as an afterthought) to becoming embedded in the lesson design. This shift in thinking becomes evident when educators focus on lesson outcomes and planning with technology that supports the outcomes, rather than focusing on the tech tool and forcing a lesson to align. To aid in this evolution of thought around technology in lesson design, a variety of technology integration models emerged. Three in particular:

These technology integration models help educators plan, implement, and evaluate instruction effectively, and it’s an added bonus that they come in the form of a fun acronym. Each model has its place and should be used conjunctively to ensure educators are using technology in meaningful and purposeful ways. I will share a brief description of these three models and when they should be used. Let’s take a look at them!

What Is the SAMR Model?

The SAMR Model is one of the most widely used models for technology integration. It’s the first model I learned when I started in instructional technology. Developed by Dr. Ruben Puentadura, SAMR categorizes technology use into four levels:

  1. Substitution
  2. Augmentation
  3. Modification
  4. Redefinition

Often it is pictured in a ladder-like form and presented as levels ultimately reaching Redefinition. While I am more partial to the idea of SAMR as a swimming pool, I do not find this the optimal model for planning a lesson.

A visual representation of the four levels of the SAMR model
Image Source

Planning a lesson by thinking, “I will achieve Augmentation by using…” places the focus on technology instead of the lesson objective. Additionally, redefining all lessons all of the time is exhausting. Sometimes, substituting a hand-written draft or worksheet with a digital version may be more than enough. 

Instead, look at SAMR as an evaluative tool for technology integration. Wait until after the lesson is over and, using SAMR, gauge achievement of the levels based on student use of technology for learning. By looking at the lesson after the fact and seeing what level of SAMR the technology achieved, a teacher has a better idea of how students used the technology to learn. This will affect how the lesson is delivered in the future and allow the teacher to see if there is a balance between SAMR levels or if an opportunity to venture into a new level is possible.

Two Additional Models

What is the TPACK Model?

Moving beyond SAMR in my understanding of instructional technology, I came across the TPACK model. Developed by Dr. Punya Mishra and Dr. Matthew Koehler, TPACK emphasizes the intersection of Technological, Pedagogical, and Content Knowledge. This is the model I recommend for lesson planning. It looks at the key parts of a lesson rather than the level of technology use when integrating technology.

First, you start with the content standard, move towards the pedagogy (instructional strategy) to teach the standard, and determine what technology tool/application would best support the instructional strategy. Furthering research into this model, Gomez (2015) suggested layering the three rather than intersecting them, showing the “combination of knowledge rather than the intersection of it.” This emphasizes technology as part of the planning process.

A visual representation of the TPACK model
Image Source

What Is the TIM?

After TPACK, the third model introduced to me was TIM (Technology Integration Matrix), developed by the Florida Center for Instructional Technology. It offers a comprehensive framework for reflecting on technology integration in the classroom. It consists of five levels of technology integration:

  • Entry
  • Adoption
  • Adaptation
  • Infusion
  • Transformation

The TIM focuses on the extent to which technology is integrated into instruction and provides guidance on the progression toward more sophisticated and transformative use. 

A colleague, whose background focuses on instructional coaching, shared TIM with me as a way for teachers to reflect on how they integrate technology. I loved this! Reflection is an important part of learning, and the TIM Matrix is an excellent way for teachers to evaluate and grow in their instructional technology use. 

TIM model (The Technology Integration Matrix)

How to Choose the Right Technology Integration Model for Your Objectives

When deciding which model to use, I like to think like Michael Fullan (2016, p. 45) who stated “[his point] is simple – make pedagogy the driver and technology the accelerator” and Liz Kolb whose “Learning First, Technology Second: The Educator’s Guide to Designing Authentic Lessons” emphasizes technology’s place as something in service of the learning and not center stage. This means it is crucial to consider the objectives we aim to achieve when selecting a model for technology integration rather than clingy to a model and forcing everything to fit: 

  • Objective: Lesson design that integrates technology → TPACK
  • Objective: Evaluate student use of technology for learning → SAMR
  • Objective: Evaluate teacher use of technology in instruction → TIM

In the ever-evolving landscape of education, integrating technology into instruction and lesson design is essential for promoting student engagement and preparing them for the future. All three technology integration models are powerful tools when it comes to technology in learning. However, the combination of the three can empower educators in lesson design, student learning, and professional growth. 

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Content CreationEducational Research

Micro-Reflections: Crafting Reflections in the Moment

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

How do you reflect on your daily work? Reflection can be a bit daunting. After a long day’s work, you may stagger home, plop on the couch, and pass out. You know reflecting on your day is important, but waiting until the day’s end is too hard.

What Are the Benefits of Reflection?

Reflecting on what you do, what you learn, or what you fail to do or learn, remains critical. The benefits of reflection include:

  • Engaging in a thoughtful relationship with life
  • Becoming active and awakening to one’s lived experiences
  • Gaining insights from asking oneself tough questions, resulting in a more active rather than a passive, non-reflective state

What’s more, reflective practice allows teachers to:

  • Move from experiencing a lesson to understanding what happened and why
  • Challenge the underlying principles and beliefs that define the way that you work
  • Adapt in a quicker manner to sudden change
  • Improve the way you learn and do work
  • Be authentic and honest about growth, success, and failure

Some suggest that the process of education is about cultivating a reflective practice. You could adapt Mark Twain’s famous quote about reading to reflect in this way:

“An educated person who does not reflect has no advantage over the person who lacks an education yet engages in daily reflection.”

Self-Judgment and Reflection

Research indicates that when students do a few specific things, they can speed up growth. John Hattie refers to Self-Judgment and Reflection as having an effect size of 0.75. This is a bit better than Reciprocal Teaching (d=0.74).

The Visible Learning MetaX database describes this introspective strategy in this way:

Self-judgement is a critical component of independent, self- directed learning. Students can often over- or underestimate their own capabilities. Teachers should cultivate in students the ability to apply standards to their own work. Researchers have pressed the importance of a student’s ability to do the following: 1) reflect on her work; 2) discern its relationship to established standards, and 3) make self-judgements.

Two strategies anyone can use include cultivating metacognition and devising short quizzes. That is, thinking about thinking and quizzing yourself about what you’ve learned.

What Are Micro-Reflections?

As I get older, I’m always on the lookout to reflect along the way. This is a far better approach than waiting until the end of the day. I call these reflections about experiences along the way “micro-reflections.” How do you engage in micro-reflections?

To assist in developing micro-reflections, I carry a small notebook with me. In it, I will share what I’ve learned and what my first impressions and beliefs are about it. Let’s take a look at one approach to reflecting.

Get a copy of all images shown via Google Slides. Inspired by The Actiope Model. Learn more online.

Adopt a Process

This process below starts with you. It is always about you when you are reflecting. You learn how to own your actions, and what actions are not yours. In the end, you can only change yourself and learn from others, whether they intended to teach or not. You can get started reflecting with this one-pager. Let’s walk through each part together.

Inventory Beliefs, Emotions, and Biases

Once I encounter new information or knowledge, I interrupt my reaction. I ask myself how I see that reaction affected by my own emotional state and biases. This helps me inventory my biases, a critical first reaction to new knowledge or ideas. This is valuable because I’m often irritated when encountering an idea because it often runs contrary to what I already know. My goal is to shed the irritation and focus on the new idea to understand it better.

Impact on Actions

Then, I write down what the impact of that knowledge or idea might be on my space or my sphere of influence.

Impact on the World

This penultimate step is tough, because it requires me to ask what am I prepared to do to change the world. Some days, I’m not prepared, or I’m only prepared to do something small – like write a blog entry or chat with a colleague.

Wrapping It Up

This is the tough part, and it may be a few hours or days before I come back to do this. Making up a quiz about what you’ve learned can help you remember it. Make up the quiz when the information is fresh, then let it sit for a day or two. When you take the multiple choice quiz later, it will help you retrieve the information in your head.

Using the Reflection Heuristic

The idea behind this reflection heuristic is simple. It’s essentially a formula for reflecting. After a while, it gets easier to do because you do it every day. With micro-reflections, you get to go through the process several times a day.

People ask me, “How do you write about so much?” My answer is that I take a look at the notes I write first, then follow this process to share one thing I have learned. In a short time, you can amass a lot of ideas, write a reflection, and then a week or month later, reflect on your original reflection. This makes it fun to discover, “How have I grown (or not) relevant to this piece of information that was wonderful enough to write down?”

Give it a try.

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AssessmentEducational ResearchGood TeachingPlanning and Preparation

EduProtocols: Workflowing Amazing Lesson Design

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

The Amazing Lesson Design Outline (ALDO) serves as an easy-to-use reminder of what you can include in lessons. Not only does it provide handy links to SEL and assessment, but it also does something more – it provides easy, one-stop access to evidence-based instructional strategies. Then, it combines those strategies with digital tools suggestions.

But no one outline can do everything, right? One big omission from ALDO? EduProtocols. Let’s explore how to enhance ALDO with classroom workflows. But first, let’s review ALDO.

What is ALDO?

ALDO is a lesson design outline containing five components:

  1. Relationships First: Trust and Social-Emotionl Learning. Select an activity you can use to connect with students.
  2. Assessment. Select a pre-assessment activity you may find useful.
  3. Teaching and Learning. Select a high-effect size strategy that matches your learning intention.
  4. Assessment. Select a post-assessment activity you may find useful.
  5. Reflect and Share. Select a Reflection Activity.

You may be familiar with Where’s Waldo series of books. You’re trying to find Waldo in a variety of fun settings. That’s one way of looking at the Amazing Lesson Design Outline (ALDO). Within the five-part outline, the lesson design blends in and offers resources for the following:

  • Positive teacher-student relationships. This part of the outline takes brain-based learning and social-emotional learning into account.
  • Evidence-based strategies. For example, high-effect size strategies detailed in the VisibleLearning MetaX database)
  • Digital tools. There is a vast array of digital tools available today. How can you pick the right one and use it to augment the effect of a paired instructional strategy?
  • Assessment. How can you assess students and then provide quality feedback about where students are?

ALDO integrates research from several key authors. As a result, educators have shared it a zillion times on social media. What ALDO is missing, though, is a connection to EduProtocols.

What Are EduProtocols?

Having read the first two books by Marlena Hebern and Jon Corippo, I found myself marveling at their work. EduProtocols makes blending research-based strategies and digital tools fun and exciting.

“EduProtocols are instructional lesson frames. They are designed to engage students in learning through critical thinking, collaboration, communication, and creativity. EduProtocols can be used with any subject, any grade level.”

What’s amazing is that EduProtocols have been out there since 2018. But there are still folks who may be unfamiliar with them. This means that there are tons of great EduProtocols resources out there for you to explore.

I love the use of the word “workflow” in the EduProtocols Field Guide #1. In it, the authors describe protocols as:

“workflows which can be repeated with changing content…[they] stabilize workflow for the teacher. The protocol shifts the main workflow from teacher-to-student to student-to-student.”

Resources for Exploring EduProtocols

Trust me, you can go down a rabbit hole exploring EduProtocols. Keep the idea of EduProtocols as “workflows” in mind.

Image Source: Jon Corippo’s Wakelet

For now, here are a few links that will start you on your journey:

Where Do EduProtocols and ALDO Connect?

My big question has been, “How would EduProtocols fit into the Amazing Lesson Design Outline (ALDO)?” I suspect that question popped into my head for a simple reason. My brain is trying to make sense of where EduProtocols fit into my schema, or my theory of how things work together.

Since EduProtocols are workflows, it seemed pretty obvious to include them in ALDO. ALDO is awesome because it combines three elements: 1.) instructional strategies, 2.) digital tools, and 3.) FUN.

Here, you can see section one, “Relationships First,” within the WALDO outline. It contains a plethora of linked activities and resources to choose from.

In ALDO, you can match phases of learning, instructional strategies, and digital tools and now includes EduProtocols for each phase and strategy, Here is the chart providing suggestions and resources under DIGITAL TOOLS: SUGGESTIONS in the ALDO.

There’s a lot to plug in, discover, and explore with ALDO! But designing lessons with strategies, workflows, and digital tools in mind helps me to see how EduProtocols fit into existing evidence-based instructional approaches. I hope that it does the same for you.

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Proven Classroom Discussion Strategies for Deeper Learning

by Dr. Bruce Ellis
written by Dr. Bruce Ellis

Have you ever visited a teacher’s classroom where things were going so well that you wished you could replicate it with other teachers? It appears that the teacher is doing very little, and yet there is healthy student interaction and support taking place. It is likely because the teacher of the classroom has a student-centered environment and uses effective discussion strategies. Let’s take a look at some reasons why we want to engage students with effective discussion strategies. Then, I’ll identify a variety of proven strategies to try out.

Reasons to Use Discussion Strategies

There are many reasons to use discussion strategies in our classrooms. It’s not hard to find research that supports discussion strategies, regardless of what content or grade level you teach. What are the benefits of discussion in the classroom?

  • Enhanced comprehension. Active discussions help students process and understand complex concepts by breaking them down into digestible components. As students articulate their thoughts, they refine their ideas and make new connections between previously learned information and the content that is currently being studied.
  • Critical thinking. Engaging in discussions challenges students to analyze, synthesize, and evaluate information from various sources and perspectives.
  • Active learning. Engaging in discussions requires students to participate in the process through listening, even if they are not talking at the moment. Unlike passively receiving information, students have ownership of the process and the content that is being shared.
  • Confidence building. As students learn to express their thoughts, they gain more confidence and ownership of their own thinking and participation in academic discussions.
  • Continuous feedback. Discussions provide opportunities for immediate feedback from peers and teachers, which helps students self-identify gaps in their understanding. Then, they can make necessary adjustments in their learning.
5 Reasons to Use Discussion Strategies in the Classroom

Tips to Consider When Using Discussion Strategies

If you are new to incorporating discussion strategies in your classroom, consider these tips. If you are already employing discussion strategies, then look through this list to evaluate the merit of using these tips for your discussions.

  • Begin small. When using discussion strategies with students, start with very easy, non-academic topics for students to discuss. This allows them to learn how to have discussions without having to focus on important content that may be very new to them.
  • Start with just one strategy. Consider which strategy might work best with your students. You may find that one strategy works great for first period but doesn’t really work for third period.
  • Ask for feedback. As you start incorporating that one strategy, ask students for feedback on how they feel it is going and how it is helping them. This is also your chance to give them feedback on how to better participate in the process of this strategy.
  • Vary the strategies over time. Like most good teaching strategies, variety increases engagement by adding newness and novelty. Give students time to learn the first strategy before incorporating a new one. As they learn different discussion strategies over time, you will be able to see which ones work best with your students and switch them up.
  • Explain the rules clearly. In order to give students the most likelihood of success, be sure to share the rules or protocols before implementing a strategy. It may be helpful to role-play a strategy or find a YouTube video that you can share with your students to demonstrate how it works. The better they understand the rules and how to engage within that strategy’s structure, the more confident they will feel with focusing on the content and not the process of discussion.

Discussion Strategies to TryThn

Think-Pair-Share

If you have been in education for the last 10 years, then you have definitely seen this strategy take place. It is a very easy strategy to use and students do not have to leave their seats to participate. After doing a small bit of teaching, give your students a brief time to think about a question related to the teaching. This gives students time to formulate their thinking and process the information individually. Then, have students turn to their neighbor and share their thoughts. Students should be encouraged to ask questions and give feedback to each other in the process.

Think Pair Share Discussion Strategy

Four Corners

The nice thing about this strategy is that it has students kinesthetically engage with the content. They are more clear in their decisions and more likely to correct misconceptions. After reading a particular text or teaching, assign a different position or perspective to each corner of your room. Have students go to the one they agree with or are interested in. Students in each corner have a discussion among themselves on the position/perspective. Take this to the next level and have students pair up with someone from a different corner to cross-share their information.

Four Corners Discussion Strategy

Socratic Circles

You may know this by another name, the Socratic Seminar. This technique requires that you change the seating within your classroom, so be sure to factor that in if you’re using this with a class in which you only have 45 minutes before the bell rings.

Here’s how it works:

  1. Choose a topic or text. The first step is to select a topic or text that you want your students to discuss. It could be anything from a current event to a piece of literature or a historical document.
  2. Set up the circle. Arrange the chairs in a circle and make sure there is enough space for everyone to participate. If you have a large class, you can divide them into smaller groups and set up multiple circles.
  3. Establish the rules. Before you begin, establish the rules for the discussion. For example, students should listen carefully to others, avoid interrupting, and speak respectfully. It’s also a good idea to set a time limit for each person’s contribution to the conversation.
  4. Begin the discussion. Start by asking an open-ended question about the topic or text. Encourage students to share their thoughts and ideas, and to respond to each other’s comments.
  5. Facilitate the discussion. As the discussion progresses, ask follow-up questions to deepen the conversation and encourage critical thinking.
  6. Wrap up the discussion. After the allotted time has passed, wrap up the discussion by summarizing the key points and insights that were shared. Encourage students to reflect on what they learned and how they can apply it in other contexts.
Socratic Circle Discussion Strategy

Silent Discussions

If you want students to do more mental processing before they articulate their thoughts, this may be the strategy for you to use. However, if you have students who struggle with the content or language, this may be one to test out later in the year rather than earlier. This technique takes advantage of students’ affinity for text while also giving them the opportunity to formulate their answers before sharing them with the group. Use a tech tool such as Padlet to facilitate the discussion; use the Stream format if there is just one discussion topic for whole group discussions, or consider using the Wall with Sections to facilitate several different discussions. Consider having students share their takeaways aloud in small groups to help solidify the learning.

Silent Discussion Discussion Strategy

Fishbowl

While this strategy has many benefits, it does require that your students have a certain level of trust and confidence in themselves and the class. Once you have that established, this is a very effective and engaging way for students to participate in the content and learn from each other. This is also a great strategy for students who are struggling with language, since they can listen to others think out loud to better structure their thoughts and use academic vocabulary.

For this strategy, have two students sit facing each other in the middle of a circle while the rest of the class sits around them. The two middle students will have a discussion while the rest of the group listens in. Consider modeling this with another teacher or finding a good YouTube video to share with your class. Once your students become familiar with the strategy, set a random timer, and when it goes off, have one of the middle students tag another student to come in and take their place. This helps ensure that the folks on the outside have an invested interest in paying attention and thinking along with the discussion that is taking place.

Fishbowl Discussion Strategy

Speed Dating

This strategy is great for adults and students alike. It’s very quick and requires students to share specific information within a limited time frame. If you’re working with younger students, then you might find a better reference to this strategy as Speed Talks or Drive-Through Discussions.

In this strategy, have students make two lines facing each other, so that each student is partnered with a student across from them. You could also do concentric circles if your room accommodates that better. This may better take place in the hallway outside your classroom for easier spacing. After sharing your discussion prompt, set a timer for the amount of time students will have to discuss, share reasonings, ask questions, etc. When the timer goes off, have one row move down two people, with the person on the end circling to the other end of the line. Repeat the process. Because students can easily hear their neighbors, I prefer to have them move two down the row so they hopefully hear new or different information than what their neighbors might have shared. As en extension, you can consider assigning a role to each row, with one row taking on the perspective of xyz while the other role is coming from and supporting the abc perspective.

Speed Dating Discussion Strategy

Now It’s Your Turn

Which strategy have you found most effective with your students? What about that strategy lends itself to enhancing the learning that’s taking place in the classroom? Jump in the comment section below and let us know. We realize these are just a few of the many great engaging discussion strategies that can be employed. If you know of one that we didn’t share, leave it in the comments so others can learn about it. We look forward to hearing from you!

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AssessmentChromebooksContent AreasEducational ResearchELARInstructional CoachingMathematicsReading

ClassQuiz: A Free Tool Supporting High-Effect Size Instructional Strategies

by Miguel Guhlin
written by Miguel Guhlin

Educators are buzzing around a new Kahoot and Quizziz-like tool available at no cost. This quiz website offers a host of features, the most important being that it doesn’t collect data. If you’ve used other quiz tools, you know data is collected about you and your students for their own use. ClassQuiz asserts that, unlike these other quiz tools, it doesn’t send information to third parties.

Let’s take a closer look at ClassQuiz to see what it can do. You will also see how it aligns with evidence-based instructional strategies as well as see new research updates about those strategies.

Screenshot by author

Git ClassQuiz

Unlike it’s commercial, closed-source competitors, ClassQuiz offers a GitHub website. That means that you could, if you chose, set up ClassQuiz internally in your own server farm. The benefit? You would have sensitive data under organizational control. This is like hosting your own WordPress or Moodle installation.

What Is ClassQuiz?

ClassQuiz works in a simple way. It allows you to take three primary actions:

  • Create a quiz that allows the insertion of pictures/images
  • Explore and find quizzes others have created
  • Import quizzes from Kahoot! that you can then edit in ClassQuiz

As you might imagine, this import option gives you access to the content in a more established tool. Once the quiz has been set up, students select responses, view results, and see a leaderboard.

Screenshot by author

What Security Safeguards Does ClassQuiz Offer?

ClassQuiz boasts of the following features that safeguard student data:

  • No tracking
  • Self-hosting
  • Cost-free
  • Multilingual
  • Dark mode
  • Save quizzes
  • Save quiz results
  • Community-driven

Hot to Get a ClassQuiz Account

Getting an account is easy. Click on the Register button at the top left of the screen, then fill in your desired information, as shown below:

Screenshot by author

You will need to confirm your email address via an email in your inbox. Using your school district or organization email? Be sure to allow emails from classquiz@mawoka.eu.

Once you have a registered account, you can log in and get access to options that include create, import, results, settings, explore, and search.

How to Import a Kahoot!

You can import a Kahoot! by selecting Import, then pasting the link (a.k.a. URL) to a Kahoot! quiz into the box. To keep it simple, I found a Technology and Robots with Star Wars quiz on Kahoot. Note that I did not create the Kahoot! quiz, but I was still able to import it into ClassQuiz.

Screenshot by author

Here’s what the import process looks like in ClassQuiz:

Screenshot by author

And once complete, the imported quiz appears in ClassQuiz ready to be edited, if needed:

Screenshot by author

Two Strategies to Use with Digital Quiz Tools

Tools like Kahoot, Quizziz, and ClassQuiz offer educators access to digital quiz tools. Each of these tools can be useful for teachers and students. That’s because, when used in alignment with research, they can impact student achievement. How? Through the use of high-effect size instructional strategies.

Did You Know?

“When repetition leads to long-term memories, there are physical changes in the brain. Brain memories disappear very quickly unless they are repeated. Our brains are made up of billions of nerve cells or neurons, all connected together. We form memories when some of these pathways become strengthened by being repeatedly used. (Source: Mike Bell, The Fundamentals of Teaching)

Two powerful strategies can inform our use of quiz tools, like ClassQuiz. Those include:

  • Rehearsal (d=0.73). This is a high-effect size strategy that accelerates student learning. It refers to mental techniques designed to help us remember information.
    • It includes memorizing information through repetition. It can involve repeating information upon seeing a visual cue (like images or flashcards).
    • What’s more, team competition as a rehearsal strategy works. That is, the teacher asks questions requiring rehearsed information. Students answer on their own to gain points for their team. (Learn more!)
  • Retrieval Practice (d=0.46) is often referred to as Practice Testing.
    • It is a way to support long-term information retention. It also assists learners in increasing access to the “to-be-remembered” information (source).
    • This strategy can strengthen learning. It does so when the teacher or student draws out information through a variety of approaches. The information is “pulled out” of students’ brains when they are prompted to retrieve it. Example approaches include flashcards and low-stakes quizzes.

With these two strategies in mind, you can approach the use of ClassQuiz to see how effective it is.

If the rehearsal strategy relies on repetition through the viewing of visual cues, how does ClassQuiz work? You can create flashcards in ClassQuiz that feature images. Then, students can select responses to match.

Retrieval practice (or practice testing) relies on students retrieving information from their minds on cue. Low-stakes quizzes, entry/exit cards (a.k.a. bell ringers) work well in ClassQuiz.

Screenshot by author

Shocking Research Update

A new study published in “Psychological Science in the Public Interest“ provides evidence that these strategies are ineffective:

  • Re-reading
  • Highlighting
  • Mnemonics

Pretty shocking, no? If those strategies are ineffective, what strategies are MOST effective?

Whenever you see these three strategies, think of this diagram:

Created by author as adapted from a workshop presentation

Leverage ClassQuiz for Effective Learning

Don’t be afraid to leverage ClassQuiz. It can enhance student use of effective learning strategies. This includes strategies like retrieval practice and rehearsal. Teaching students to engage in distributed and interleaved practice amplifies strategies’ effect. It can ensure long-term information retention beyond re-reading and highlighting.

Feature Image Source

Screenshot by author, ClassQuiz

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Educational Research

The Latest Research on Teaching and Learning: Video Games

by Lori Gracey
written by Lori Gracey

This month we’ll take a look at a hot topic: Does playing video games harm children’s cognitive development? Everyone’s got an opinion about this, but what does the research say? Let’s see if there is a clear answer.

How Much Time Do Kids Spend Playing Video Games?

Several recent studies have found that, in general, children are spending the following amounts of time playing video games either on mobile devices or on computers:

  • Preschoolers (ages 2 to 4) spend 5 minutes per day playing computer or console games and 10 minutes playing mobile games.
  • Young children (ages 5 to 8) spend 19 minutes per day playing computer or console games and 21 minutes playing mobile games.
  • Tweens (ages 8 to 12) spend 55 minutes per day playing computer or console games and 34 minutes playing mobile games.
  • Teens ages thirteen to eighteen spend 69 minutes per day playing computer or console games and 27 minutes playing mobile games.

How Much Time Should Kids Spend Playing Video Games?

The American Academy of Pediatrics has set the following guidelines for how long children should spend playing video games.

  • Less than one hour for children six and under
  • 30 to 60 minutes per day on school days and 2 hours or less on non-school days for children 7 to 12
How much time should kids spend playing video games?

How Does Video Gaming Affect Health?

Numerous studies have found that video gaming has the potential to have a negative impact on children’s health in the following areas:

  • Lack of sleep
  • Obesity
  • Not enough physical activity
  • Development of gambling problems (loot boxes)

How Does Video Gaming Affect Cognitive Development?

A 2022 study found that “those who reported playing video games for three hours per day or more performed better on cognitive skills tests involving impulse control and working memory compared to children who had never played video games.” Children playing that long in games showed higher brain activity in areas related to attention and memory, as well as more activity in the frontal brain regions associated with more cognitively demanding tasks. The study also disagreed with previous studies that found video gaming could lead to increases in depression, violence, and aggressive behavior, although more research obviously needs to be done on this.

A 2023 study of fifth graders published in the Journal of Media Psychology found “no meaningful links between video game playing, even for hours, and the children’s cognitive ability.” This was held true regardless of how long the children played or what video games they were playing. Seventy percent of those studied were from lower income households, a group that had not been studied as much in other reviews. The study did reveal one other interesting finding, however. “Certain types of games described as helping children build healthy cognitive skills also presented no measurable effects, in spite of the games’ marketing messages.” This is different from findings about the cognitive development ability of games in young adults.

video game study quote

Much more continued research is needed on this topic and all of its parts, including screen time, vision, socialization and cooperation, time management, and impulse control. For now, it is recommended that parents monitor their children’s use of video games. Educators should also have discussions with their students about the potential downside to playing video games.

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Educational Research

Two Self-Reported Grading Strategies

by Emily Horn
written by Emily Horn

What Is Effect Size?

Before we dive into self-reported grading, let’s talk about the research. I was introduced to John Hattie’s work a few years ago, and you see the phrase “effect size” pretty much all over it. You may be wondering, “What the heck is effect size?” In his book, “Visible Learning,” John Hattie outlines “Barometers of Influence.” This is basically a scale that provides quantitative value to the desired effects we’re looking for as a result of instruction. It’s broken down into four sections representing negative, low, medium, and high achievement. 

Barometer of Influence (John Hattie) Self-Reported Grades 1.3 Effect Size
Source

Here is a great explanation of the four sections from the Kentucky Department of Education. 

Red: An effect size below zero represents strategies and actions that students may be exposed to that have reverse consequences on their learning. 

Yellow: An effect size between zero and .15 indicates progress that a student can make without proper strategy instruction and guidance, where students are learning on their own through natural inquisitiveness and could achieve without schooling. 

Orange [GREEN]: An effect size up to .40 represents a school year’s growth over the course of one school year. Schools that use effect sizes to measure student progress can maximize their impact on student outcomes. 

Blue: An effect size of greater than .40 is the Zone of Desired Effects. Hattie’s research shows that there are many influences, when done with fidelity, will give students an opportunity to grow and have one, two, and sometimes three years of progress. Schools that use effect sizes to measure student progress can maximize their impact on student outcomes.

How Is Effect Size Calculated?

Since effect size is learning quantified, it’s important to note how these numbers are calculated. Essentially, Hattie reports calculating effect sizes in two ways (Visible Learning, p. 8):

In the first calculation, there are two groups being measured – the control group and the treatment group (experimental). 

Average/Mean of the Treatment Group – Average/Mean of the Control Group

Standard Deviation

In the second method of calculation, there is one group being measured before the treatment and after the (experiment) treatment. 

Average/Mean After Treatment – Mean Before Treatment

Standard Deviation 

In both equations, the calculated numerator is divided by the standard deviation.

What Factors Are Considered?

Hattie has taken a multitude of influences (bullying, grouping, anxiety, coding, ADHD, cooperative learning, etc.) within nine domains and various subdomains and ranked them by impact based on his calculated effect size. The higher the effect size, the more growth the student showed and the bigger the impact. You can take a look at the full, filterable list of research on Hattie’s website. It’s pretty nifty!

Influences by Domain; Student Domain; Self-Reported Grades Influence

What Are Self-Reported Grades?

In the Student domain, the highest-ranked influence is Self-Reported Grades, with an effect size of 1.33. That means that this has a high impact and is on the high end of the Zone of Desired Effects. Well, that’s all great, but what the heck are self-reported grades?

According to Hattie, self-reported grades are “a practice by which students assess the quality of their own work or their level of mastery over a given subject domain. The validity of such self-grading is often assessed by comparing a student’s ‘self-reported’ grade with that provided by an instructor.” Let’s see what Hattie has to say.

Sounds good, but how do you actually do this in the classroom? Let’s look at two strategies.

Goal Setting

SMARTER Goals Template for Self-Reported Grades

TCEA’s Diana Benner recommends setting specific SMARTER (Specific, Measurable, Ambitious, Results Oriented, Time Bound, Evaluated, Reevaluated) goals with students and then having them:

  • outline their steps for reaching the goal
  • identify resources that will support their work
  • develop ways to monitor and evaluate progress

Younger students may need a choice board, verbal prompting, and/or to dictate their goals and plans as the teacher writes them. But upper elementary, middle, and high school students can goal set independently using Benner’s SMARTER Goals Template or an adapted version.

Rubrics

Rubric Template for Self-Reported Grades

Benner says, “Rubrics are a wonderful way to give your students the power to assess their own work. As the teacher, you also grade the student’s work with the same rubric.” She suggests, as does Hattie, that after the teacher and student have both completed the rubrics, they compare the results. “By using rubrics as a way for students to self-grade, you are allowing them the opportunity to think critically about their work,” Benner said. “Regular use of self-graded rubrics will help your students learn to target their work toward your expectations. They might even have fun playing the teacher and grading their own work!” Plus, when you work with an individual student to compare their completed self-reporting rubric with yours, they can think critically to analyze the differences between the two. This can lead to a better understanding of expectations which can lead to growth.

Additionally, depending on the assignment, you can look at exemplar work with students, note what you observe together, and create a rubric with your students. Tools you can use for creating rubrics are Google Classroom, Google Drawing, and Google Docs. Feel free to use these templates created by Benner.

Knowing that self-reporting grades has such as high effect size makes it worth giving it a try with students! Have you used a self-reporting strategy before? What was it, and how did it work for your students? Share with us in the comments below.

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CanvaContent CreationEducational ResearchUncategorized

80 Graphic Organizer Templates for Active Learning

by Ernest Gonzales
written by Ernest Gonzales

If you are a reader like me, you can read a few pages of a book, pause for a second, and come to the realization that you can’t remember what you just read. Maybe you’re driving somewhere, and for a split second, you forget where you are driving. These types of experiences can happen easily because we are not actively thinking. The same thing happens to learners in our classrooms. In order to avoid these situations and seek deeper learning experiences for students that help them retain information, active learning instructional strategies can be utilized.

What Is Active Learning?

Active learning is a term used to refer to instructional strategies focused on getting learners to actively process new information such as through reflection, collaboration, writing, and more. Through active learning experiences, learners can retain more information than through passive learning experiences, such as note-taking. So it is important that educators implement active learning instructional strategies to improve learning outcomes. For those wanting to learn more about active learning, visit Cornell’s Center for Teaching Innovation.

Using Graphic Organizers for Active Learning (GOAL)

graphic organizer categories to promote active learning

One easy way to incorporate more active learning strategies is through the use of graphic organizers. In order to make it easier for educators to find and use these resources, I designed a series of 80 “GOALs” or “Graphic Organizers for Active Learning”. These GOALs are free, ready-to-use, and designed as dual-language resources. For districts such as ours in San Antonio, with 20% emergent bilinguals, it is crucial to have resources that are available in English and Spanish.  The graphic organizer templates are organized into different themes such as problem solving, collaboration, SEL, writing, and more to simplify the process of finding the exact template you need for lessons. The templates are designed with fun graphics and are meant to be engaging to your audiences.

The Graphic Organizer Templates

Here is a menu of eight categories of graphic organizers. Each category contains 10 different designs to choose from. The designs are created in Canva, an amazing design tool that is offering free services to K-12 schools. When you click on one of the designs, you’ll notice an option to use the template in Canva, meaning you can customize the template to fit exactly what you need, or you can use it as-is. Be sure to create a Canva account if you don’t already have one or talk to your district’s IT department about setting up access for your entire district.

Graphic Organizer Formats

When ready, you can print the graphic organizer for your students as a PDF file, or you can use these files with the ed tech tools of your choice. Since the GOALs are designed in Canva, you can download a PNG or a JPG file in order to place the graphic organizer into popular tools such as Kami, Lumio, Seesaw, or Canvas. For those educators ready to app smash these templates into ed tech tools, here is a guide with short video tutorials to help you get started.

exit ticket graphic organizers to promote active learning

As educators, the instructional strategies we implement should seek to make learning more effective. Active learning can do this for our students, but it helps to have the resources we need to get started. It’s an added bonus if the resources are free, too! Make active learning a “GOAL” in 2023 by downloading these templates today.

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Educational ResearchSocial-Emotional Learning

The Latest Research on Teaching and Learning: Happiness

by Lori Gracey
written by Lori Gracey

This month’s roundup of new research of interest to educators is a little bit different in that we won’t be examining new teaching strategies or the latest findings about learning. Instead, we’ll look at happiness and how we can be happy – a topic of relevance for both students and adults.

What Does Being Happy Really Mean?

Happiness does not mean that you are in a positive emotional state all the time. It doesn’t mean you feel joyful and cheerful every hour of the day or run around with a smile on your face all the time. We simply aren’t designed that way. Instead, being happy means accepting negative experiences, having the skills to manage and cope with them, and using them to make better decisions later. So, it’s not just about the highs but also about how we cope with the lows.

Can You Change How Happy You Are?

According to the research, it is possible, and even fairly easy, to increase how happy you are on a regular basis. Here are four exercises that clinical studies have shown improve your feelings of happiness and well-being.

1. Grow your social connections. Social connection is the biggest factor affecting happiness, multiple studies have found. Forming close relationships with spouses, family members, friends, and community members results in being happier and both physically and mentally healthier. It’s not about how many connections you have. Instead, focus on deepening the relationship you have with even just a few individuals by giving them more of your time and attention.

grow your social connections

2. Engage in random acts of kindness. Deliberately performing random acts of kindness can make you feel happier and less depressed and anxious, according to a series of studies from Sonja Lyubomirsky at UC Riverside. Varying those acts you do for others has a longer-term effect on your own happiness. So don’t just do the same thing each day. Give someone a compliment, make your spouse coffee, talk with a colleague that you don’t normally spend much time with. All of these actions will activate your brain’s reward system, making you feel good because you made another person feel good.

3. Express gratitude. Writing down three things you’re grateful for at the end of each day leads to long-term increases in happiness and decreases in depressive symptoms. Research shows you don’t have to spend a lot of time writing them down. Something like “I finished the report that I had been putting off” or “I went for a walk today and saw some beautiful flowers” are all that is needed. The goal is to train your brain to focus on the parts of your life that are good instead of always thinking about what’s wrong.

write three things each day you're grateful for

4. Practice self-compassion. This may be the hardest activity for many of us. We have to work to develop a warm, supportive inner voice rather than a hostile, critical one and understand that setbacks are a part of life. Being too hard on ourselves keeps us unhappy. We are worthwhile!

There are two free courses available that explore how to be happy in greater depth. The Science of Happiness online course is hosted on the edX platform. To sign up, you need to create an edX account and then register for the course there. Once you do, you’ll receive weekly emails every Tuesday as new content is posted. Yale also offers a free course on the Coursera platform called The Science of Well-Being.

What will you do to increase your happiness in 2023? How can you help your students or those you work with to be more satisfied with their lives?

Previous Articles in Research on Teaching and Learning Series

The Latest Research on Teaching and Learning: Happiness | December 2022

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