TechNollerGist Ep. 12: Practical EdTech

Liz Kolb, the originator of the Triple E Framework, visited us over the summer delivering this year's WiredTC keynote. The TechNollerGist gives his own practical take on the "Framework" and how best to apply it to your technology use in the classroom. 

 

Show Transcript:

Larry Burden 0:00
What is this app with the little things poking out of it?

Larry Burden 0:05
Like, uh-oh, uh-oh something has gone amiss.

Larry Burden 0:15
All right, here we go. It's Episode 12 of the TechNollerGist podcast. The number is still correct. I know you debate. I'm Larry Burden, and he's been actively developing a framework to avoid frameworks. It's the TechNollerGist, David Noller.

David Noller 0:28
That's not inaccurate right there.

Larry Burden 0:30
You are the agent of chaos.

David Noller 0:33
I am an agent of chaos. That's great.

Larry Burden 0:34
Today's topic, should he, should he choose to accept it? practical Ed Tech, with the Triple E Framework?

David Noller 0:40
Yeah.

Larry Burden 0:41
So Liz Kolb, the originator of the Triple E Framework visited us over the summer. Did a little WiredTC keynote, which I thought was fabulous. We kind of discussed it a little bit in an earlier EdTech Loop podcast regarding the fact that she just got right into it, and went into the research it was your professional, I'm a professional, let's talk about professional stuff.

David Noller 1:04
Right, right.

Larry Burden 1:05
Um, but for those of us that did not attend the keynote, what is the Triple E Framework?

David Noller 1:12
So, I like to slow roll it in terms of just providing, like just the, the bare bones of the framework, right? Because I think in many ways, the framework reflects what has been good teaching all along. But highlights in a way that's, that's certainly useful for our teachers to know, and is great as a way to reflect on our practice. So the three big things of the framework are that we use, whatever resources we're using, whether it's a technology piece, a website, a tool, whatever it happens to be to engage, enhance, and extend learning. Those terms are pretty self explanatory. In terms of extending, we want to build a bridge to real world experience with the kids with the things we're doing with them. And if we can use a technology tool to do that, then we've met our duty to extend. We want to enhance the kids experience by helping them build to a more sophisticated understanding. And we do that through scaffolding. And that's where I keep coming back and saying, and that's always been good teaching. We've always tried to scaffold from simple to complex. But with some of the available tools we have, we can go higher than we could without those tools. When we're talking about paper and pencil, you can only go so far. If you can run a simulation, online, using these tools, we're taking this scaffold and we're building and higher.

Larry Burden 2:43
I hadn't thought about this before. But not only are you creating, and I think we lose this sometimes when we talk about using technology, you're creating scaffolding that goes higher, you're also creating scaffolding underneath. Because there's foundational skills that you need to have developed in yourself and in the students to get to the stuff up high.

David Noller 3:09
Sure. Sometimes we throw kids into the practice of the high stuff. And they learn those foundational things as they go. So the next time they encounter that tool, it's easier for them to use. There's no way around, you're going to have to use, you know, this library media research tool, the first time once. Once you've used it the first time once, then it's no longer the first time and you build those foundation, as you go through that process. When we do our senior research project in the spring. By the time they're seniors, they've used that library tool so many times that it's, I have to spend less time building the basement, and we can spend more time being intentional about our information gathering.

Larry Burden 3:50
Do you find that there are students, or how much time do you spend making sure the foundation is set before you go on into the lesson?

David Noller 4:00
I'm able to do it in a way that, I walk with them for the first few steps. I don't, I don't demo and then have them get in. We all get in together. We've already at that point thought about something that we're interested in finding more about. So we've already kind of set something that we're going to look for. So when we get into the tool, all we got to do now is figure out how to look for it. So while I'm putting in my search term they're putting in there's. I'm demonstrating it through the projector that's at the front of my room, but they're doing it for themselves. So when I asked them within this research tool to, to view the wheel of topics, and to be able to show how they can drill down to sub-topics and how they can use that to then get to specific resources. They're doing it with me. And not only are they learning the process, as they do it with me, they're being exposed to resources that they may very well use when it comes time to actually dig into the sources. They have the opportunity to both use the tool and discover meaningful content through the building of the foundation.

Larry Burden 5:02
According to the Triple E Framework, this would be a usable tech tool.

David Noller 5:06
Yeah.

Larry Burden 5:07
When do you use it? When, when are you being mindful of, does this fit into, does this tool that I'm using fit into the Triple E Framework.

David Noller 5:16
So, in terms of something new, that I'm, I'm trying for the first time, I'm going to be thinking about whether or not, is this something that engages students in a way that I can control time on task to make sure that they're engaged in the process the whole time. I've talked before about how one of the drawbacks of technology that happens is when a teacher says okay, I need you to do this. And then there's like half an hour. Too much time to get distracted, right? I'm gonna give you 30 minutes to do X, well, they're going to do X maybe, but they're also going to do Y, Z, Alpha, Beta, you know, etc. So I bear those kinds of lessons in mind about being intentional with time on task. And that's part of engagement.

Larry Burden 5:58
That would be one of the E's.

David Noller 6:00
About making sure that what I'm doing is part of a scaffolded process. And then the third thing, and this is the thing I've been thinking about most, is the extension part, I'm teaching creative writing. The first thing we did in the first week, well, the first thing, one of the things we did in our first week was establish a online portfolio that's they're going to be able to share with an authentic audience. Whether it's their parents or the whole world, or

Larry Burden 6:23
You were talking about the last year.

David Noller 6:24
I'm still working about that, right. But that's extending learning. Where the only way they're going to have that authentic audience is by using the technology tool that's available through this website creator. We're using Google Sites. And that's what we mean when we're talking about examining the, the technology tools that we use according to this framework. If the assignment extends, regardless of the technology tool, that's not what the frameworks really for. The framework is for looking, is this technology tool, useful as something that will extend the students learning? Then with extension, you know, we're talking about bridging to real world, we're talking about building critical skills that are real world skills. And when you have to put your work out there in front of an authentic audience who has the ability to comment and you have to manage that sort of feedback, personally, those are those soft skills about taking criticism and taking comment and being willing to share your work with others, because I mean, when we're in the world of work, or when the world of academia, someone's always looking over our shoulder. And so this is giving them a sort of...

Larry Burden 7:31
Sharing doesn't mean scaring.

David Noller 7:33
No, it doesn't always mean caring, either. But it does, it does mean that you have to have a kind of fortitude to, to manage whatever response you get.

Larry Burden 7:45
That's how you use it. When a teacher is considering it, when should they be looking at, in their lesson planning?

David Noller 7:54
Yeah,

Larry Burden 7:54
You know, what, at what point in time should they be like, is this, or is this not something that I should be incorporating into?

David Noller 8:01
I'd say it's step one. If you have a thought, hey, I'd like to use this website, this online tool, this simulation, whatever it happens to be, before you get into all the planning, and all the creation of assets that you're going to need to teach it, go through the framework? Does it, is it going to engage my students in a way that is going to keep their attention and time on task consistently? If "Yes," keep going? Is it going to enhance the students learning? Are they going to learn something more by, by doing it? One of the things that, that we've seen as a kind of negative example of that, are these academic games, these learning games, where after the kid does five or ten repetitions of learning, then they get to play a game as a reward. Sounds great. Except what we find is that those learners who are not the "Go-Get-Em," type will often just click through the answers, so they can play the game. So the game becomes an actual distraction from learning instead of being a motivation to learn. Because most of those, you don't have to get it right to get to the game, you just have to answer it.

Larry Burden 9:12
Only, even if you do, even if you do have to get it right, you basically just created a multiple choice, you know, press and guess type of situation,

David Noller 9:21
Right.

Larry Burden 9:22
That's not really extending. Though the game is exciting, and interesting. The actual learning hasn't changed at all.

David Noller 9:30
And if it's going to be a game, the the learning should come from the content of the game. Rather than, I answered five questions, now I get to play Space Invaders.

Larry Burden 9:38
Yeah, we're big fans of gamifying here.

David Noller 9:40
Oh, yeah,

Larry Burden 9:41
We are big fans, huge fans.

David Noller 9:43
I'm not a fan of traditional learning rewarded with games.

Larry Burden 9:47
They don't have context.

David Noller 9:48
I am a big fan of learning through games. And then the, the extension part. Is it giving you something to do that is taking the students beyond what they do in a traditional day? Is it taking them outside of the building? Is it taking them to real world, even soft skills of managing impulsivity or working with a team? Those kinds of things. So for me, it's from the beginning. If I'm gonna engage in this technology tool, It has to be intentional. And how do you make it intentional, you can follow this framework.

Larry Burden 10:18
You're saying that, maybe not flipping through Twitter and going, ooh, Flippity! Though we like Flippity. Flippity is really cool. I don't really know it. I'm just going to throw it in there and...

David Noller 10:29
Yeah,

Larry Burden 10:30
see how it works?

David Noller 10:31
Yeah, that's, that's been a challenge for us lately, is that there are so many great shiny baubles out there to play with on the internet, and sometimes we want to say, I gotta put this in front of my kids, they'll love it. But, you know, we've got the committee to review those things so we can make sure that we're protecting the kids privacy and their data and all that thing. So, part of being intentional about the, the Triple E Framework, we have to have as a corollary, also being intentional about data and privacy.

Larry Burden 10:57
Absolutely. Well, and also you might...

David Noller 11:00
Shout out Danelle.

Larry Burden 11:01
Thank you for going through all those, all that fine print in terms of agreements, it's, it's wow. Is there anything else on the Triple E?

David Noller 11:08
We can dig into all kinds of things. We can give examples. I will give you this as an example. And this will be my like, application outside of what I usually do. Kate Hansen teaches Spanish. And If you are I grew up in the decades before, a long time ago. I learned Spanish from worksheets and from repeat after me, and that's how we did it way back then, memorizing vocabulary. Ms. Hansen has been able to do engagement, enhancement, and extension, through things as simple as creating a running journal that the kids keep, where every time they write, they have to write 10% more than they did last time. So, it's a Google Doc, they do a word count to see what they did last time, and then with the new vocabulary and the new ways of speaking that they've been learning through comprehensive input method, they try to write a little more. And so, because they have that resource always available to them, they're always able to see what they've done. There's never a question of what did I do last time. In terms of like reflective learning, they're able to reflect every time they, they produce, they can reflect on what they did last time. She also has a as an extension piece. We have an exchange with a school in Leon, where the kids are pen pals, and even video pals with those students. And they send videos back and forth, they send notes back and forth, they talk about themselves. That's the kind of thing that it's not necessarily high tech. It's just a pen pal. But we're doing it through the internet, we're using the video capabilities across the internet. But it connects the students in a real meaningful, authentic way with a whole new audience. Native speakers of the language they're learning, and connects them in a way that, that builds those kind of soft skills of relationships and things too. So

Larry Burden 12:59
Enhancement, engagement,

David Noller 13:01
Extension

Larry Burden 13:02
Extension, bam, bam, bam,

David Noller 13:03
She has accidentally become an expert in the Triple E Framework. But that's kind of what I mean about good teaching. She's taken the tools that were available, and before we even started talking about Triple E, would be somebody that we could hold up as an example of someone who fully engages in the principles of the Triple E framework, because she's a good teacher.

Larry Burden 13:27
A good teacher will trip and fall into the Triple E Framework.

David Noller 13:31
Yeah, I think so. With a little help from your friends, Maybe a shove. A gentle push.

Larry Burden 13:38
If nothing else, Danelle to read those terms and policies.

David Noller 13:39
That's right.

Larry Burden 13:41
Before you use the tool.

David Noller 13:42
The Triple E Framework, it's like if you're trying to decide what to use, If you've got a pancake use a spatula.

Larry Burden 13:51
Thank you Uncle Buck.

David Noller 13:51
You know, right. Don't use the snow shovel unless you're making a four foot wide pancake. If the tools right for the job, it's right for the job, Look at the Triple E Framework. Make sure it's doing the things we need it to do. But don't jump into using a technology tool just because it's technology. It has to fit that framework in order to make meaning with the student learning.

Larry Burden 14:13
Love it. Absolutely love it. I don't know, it's early in the year. I don't know if you've got it yet. It's our favorite segment, "This Pods Getting Gamey."

Larry Burden 14:19
Are you gamifying anything this year?

David Noller 14:24
I did a thing.

Larry Burden 14:27
You've done a lot of things, Most of them aren't appropriate for the podcast.

David Noller 14:31
Wow! All right.

Larry Burden 14:33
Tread lightly sir, tread lightly.

David Noller 14:35
So, Sociology, you know, I did the monopoly thing I've done in the past. It's been successful to a degree here and there. It's been great. It's been okay. I wanted to do something simpler. And so I created a simple simulation where based on student choice, they had a list of half a dozen characteristics they could acquire. If they acquired two from that list they couldn't get any the other ones. I could see this being used, by the way, like a science class where you're designing a new species. What kind of, out of this six, what do you get? You get two. Okay, well, now you can't pick those. Once they pick those two characteristics for their society, whether it was advanced horse riding, or development of agriculture, or development of a market, that opened up another group of things that they could choose from in the next round. And they had to talk about, within the context of Structural Functionalism, this theory we're dealing with, what would help to create stability, and solidarity in their, in their society. Which roles had to be filled. In which direction were they going to go? One group went full warfare. They went, we want to develop weapons, we want to learn offensive strategy. They didn't take any food development. They didn't take any government. They didn't take any trading along the way. They could have specialized in inter-village trade, they didn't. All they did was war. The time it took to write this out was about 15 minutes, maybe. As I figured out the branches of these different skills and what they could open up, right. 15, 10, 15 minutes, super quick. And then the time came, and I turned to the group, the military group, I said, Who do you want to attack? Well, who's got the most money? They do. And how do I know that? Because I decided. They had a market, they had built a barn and a silo for storage. They developed their agriculture, they had a fence, okay, they are. We attack them. Well, they didn't know, the attacking group didn't know, that thee, that this rich group also invested in defensive warfare. And so there were losses on each side, but they were not conquered. And then immediately, one of my students says, "How about the rest of us form an alliance against them." And all of those principles that we'd been talking about in Structural Functionalism, about the roles that we take on in society, in order to create stability and protection. In order to have solidarity, so we have community within. All that stuff played out in the classroom, to the point where one group was literally shunned. And they were personally offended. Not just in the context of the game, but they're mad at their classmates for leaving them out, right? But, that was kind of the goal of the whole thing. So...

Larry Burden 17:28
If you're not gonna play nice,

David Noller 17:29
If you're not gonna play nice, you know, they're gonna kick sand or whatever, I don't know, what is it, they take their ball and go home. So, it was super simple, took me about 10 minutes to plan, maybe 15 max, and super effective. And it was paper and pencil, had nothing to do with technology, except for the fact that I typed out the rules on a Google Doc. But it was, it was a great way to engage kids in decision making, that demonstrated this theoretical framework, where at the end, they could all kind of give a A-Ha, I get it now.

Larry Burden 18:03
More frameworks from you. This is getting weird.

Larry Burden 18:06
But it's chaos, because you know, I had the rules, but I had to storytell the whole thing as we went. So...

Larry Burden 18:11
Okay, well let it pass.

David Noller 18:12
There's till some chaos.

Larry Burden 18:14
Tutorials and updates. I just wanted to point out that we had a, Meet the Tech Director pod, on Tuesday. Dropped yesterday I do believe. It's a very good pod. He had things to say.

David Noller 18:23
I will listen to those things.

Larry Burden 18:25
They were good. They were good things. We actually are going to, actually be putting a piece of that, a snippet of that on YouTube. The TCAPSLoop YouTube channel is active.

David Noller 18:34
All right.

Larry Burden 18:34
Now speaking of active YouTube channels,

David Noller 18:36
Yes,

Larry Burden 18:37
The TechNollerGist has always got something going on, on YouTube. Have you dropped anything new?

David Noller 18:41
There have been a couple recently. We're working on a project of, sort of like, TCAPS Tech 101, getting started kind of skills and things. So I've just put up a couple about, like real mundane stuff, like how to change your printer, how to access the TCAPS App Store for programs that are already installed on your device that you might need. Danielle just is working on one I think I linked it on on my page, because apparently I still things, but, on sort of the philosophy of technology integration in TCAPS. And then I also posted one about, where to find help in TCAPS when you have technology questions. There's our help desk extension 3-3325, there is on Google Drive, there's our team drive that has the tech toolbox. And then of course there's your educational technology coaches, Daniel Brostrom, and myself the TechNollerGist.

Larry Burden 19:38
All right. In closing Follow us on Facebook and Twitter @tcapsloop

David Noller 19:42
@TechNollerGist. What happened?

Larry Burden 19:45
I don't know that you didn't

David Noller 19:46
I wasn't listening to what you said. I assumed I was supposed to say something.

Larry Burden 19:49
You did exactly what you're supposed to do but you looked really confused doing it.

David Noller 19:52
I went somewhere in my head. And I don't know quite where I went.

Larry Burden 19:56
I don't know if I want to know where you went.

David Noller 19:58
I was thinking of a joke. How many surrealists does it take to change a light bulb?

Larry Burden 20:04
How many?

David Noller 20:05
banana.

Larry Burden 20:07
I was gonna say rhinoceros.

David Noller 20:09
Close.

Larry Burden 20:10
Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, the Google Play Store and anywhere else you get your ear candy. Remember, you're never too old to play.

David Noller 20:18
Play a game today, it's good for you.

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