Skip to main content

Twitter in the classroom - four

Have been introducing a Year 8 lower ability class to data collection, presentation and spatial analysis. This led to a rather random Tweet on Tuesday. I asked my network to tell me their location and whether they preferred their bread toasted on one, or both sides before adding the cheese when making cheese on toast.

What led up to this? Well I was telling the class about my theory that Northern people liked their cheese on toast different to those down south. This theory, I explained, comes from my time working with the Hampshire Outdoor Education Service. The pupils challenged me ('Prove it!') and so I decided to set a hypothesis based upon my assumption.

The next problem was how to collect data! The class cam up with the questionnaire idea although we identified that to be too geographically limited. I said I would ask my personal learning network. This modelled informal learning to the pupils.

Thank you to those that replied! An unintended side effect was that my Facebook contacts also replied as the Tweet was automatically shunted by TweetDeck. The next lesson I presented the class with the raw data, and showed them my Twitter replies and Facebook messages. They really loved some of the detail, and were also amazed that I was connected to someone in Bruges and California. They were also surprised that I had friends.

The next stage was to create a map by creating placemarks in Google Earth:


We then described the spatial pattern of the data and discussed limitations. The class then decided to remove any -outliers' and we drew a line on the map dividing the country in two by using the 'Path' tool
.
The result? Yes there is a pattern. Those who live in the North of the UK like their bread toasted on both sides. The final stage was to evaluate the findings: how confident could we be? The class then cam up with some top tips to improve the experiment.

All in all, a great lesson for exploring data collection, analysis and conclusions. Could be used in Maths, Science, Geography......
Labels:

Comments

  1. Anonymous1 May 2009 at 19:17

    Very interesting method of teaching. Technology should be introduced to the classroom more often, and you do that quite a bit, which I congratulate you for! Now it's just a case of getting people like Harris to follow suit.. GULP.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Alan Parkinson1 May 2009 at 21:19

    I'm from the North but live in the South, and I like my bread toasted on one side... Does that make me a freak ?

    ReplyDelete
  3. David Rogers2 May 2009 at 08:49

    Alan - that means you just don't fit in anywhere ;-)

    Next lesson we will go on to looking at some ethics and drawbacks of the investigation. For example, the pupils were very quick to pick up on the small sample.

    Steve - I agree. I think that teachers can use very simple technology to make a big impact when it is used well. Also the expertise of students should be used. To me, a school should give you detention if you don't use your mobile or MP3 player (generic of course ;-) ). I think that it's mad when school pay lots of money for cameras etc when almost every student has one in their pocket.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Val Vannet2 May 2009 at 14:44

    ...and I, who might just be the furthest north of your respondents, likes it toasted both sides first before adding the cheese (which has to be a nice mature cheddar, of course!)

    ReplyDelete
  5. David Rogers6 May 2009 at 07:37

    So following the pattern Val ;-)

    Have received some interesting pictures of people's cheese on toast lately too.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

High Impact, Low effort

This month is the start of the #29daysofwriting challenge.  I enjoyed this last year and will be using my Staffrm account to post.  I'll also be reporting here, both to give a little more detail and to keep a log of what I have written. The challenge developed a great sense of community last year, which is why I'm choosing to write on Staffrm. What I would say to those who are new to writing or don't want to run out of ideas is: Write for yourself. Clarify an idea, write something out loud. The process of distilling thoughts into writing is immensely beneficial to your practice. If other read, comment and respond, that's a bonus. Ignore the muppets who know nothing of your context, style or students. Mix it up - I like to read about real stuff from real classrooms and schools and also about other stuff.  If we always write about school, how does that work for workload? If you've nothing nice to say, don't say it. So, the following has been 
5 comments
Read more

What makes a learning experience profound? Personal reflections and possible implications for classroom practice.

I have recently begun a Leadership Pathways journey.  As part of the first core day, we were asked to reflect on a profound learning experience. This got me thinking about how many profound learning experiences I have both been involved in, and how many I have been able to give to others.  Our group came up with a huge long list, but these are my five. Emotional Connected Demanding Reflective Collaborative As always, these are personal thoughts and quite mixed up.  I put them here so that I can look back on them (plus they’d get lost inside my world-cup-free brain) 1. Emotional I can’t think of a time where deep learning hasn’t engaged my emotions.  From being awe inspired to that tingle feeling when a student gets a light bulb moment.  From this-is-the-happiest-day-ever, to I-think-I’m-about-to die.  How often do we engage the emotions of those we teach?  Here, I would argue that having a safe learning environment is not always conducive to profound
4 comments
Read more

The danger of Teaching and Twitter conversations: poorly formed bipolar arguments.

Sometimes in life, there really are only two options.  Get the wrong one and you can look like a muppet.  Take this useful sign for the toilets in Morocco.  I successfully navigated it, choosing the right option.  The result? No egg on my face.  As a mountain leader, there are many right or wrong decisions that I’ve faced, as there are all over life.  It’s not a good idea to let inexperienced young people walk themselves down Snowdon.  They may die or be seriously injured.  If someone is showing the signs and symptoms of hyperthermia, you need to treat it fast in a specified way.  There is no real arguing with this sign: Other options are less obvious.  Take this sign recently spotted near to where I live: Now, I wouldn’t consider sleeping in a bin.  However, faced with a sub-zero night, I could see the appeal.  The danger? Being tipped into one of those huge lorries with a compactor. (by the way, I only really considered all of this thanks to questions from my four year old boy).
1 comment
Read more