Thursday, September 26, 2013

Challenge #9: Give Your KWL a Digital Makeover



Edtech Challenge #9 is to give your classic KWL chart a digital-age makeover. Why go digital you wonder? Well, it wouldn't be an Edtech Challenge if it wasn't. But more importantly, when content is created digitally, it can be communicated with students and parents outside of the school walls. Parents can have access to important information that they can use to help support their child's learning and students can revisit their learning activities anytime and from anywhere. Aside from the communication benefits, the chart itself can become much more dynamic by including elements of multimedia.

The KWL is one method that many teachers use to activate prior knowledge and to have students personalize their learning goals. Yes, the KWL has been around for some time, but it is evolving. If you do an internet search on "KWL", you will notice that many educators are using a KWHL, the H standing for "How will I find out?".  Seems like the perfect addition for including some digital literacy skills. Some are even diving in deeper and using a KWHLAQ chart. Do you want to know what the AQ stand for? Then check out this post from Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano's blog, Upgrading your KWL to the 21st Century.

Here are some things to consider as you attempt this Edtech Challenge.
  • Try using Google Docs, Padlet, Popplet, Inspiration, or even Smart Notebook software to create your digital KWL, KWHL, or KWHLAQ. This way, you can embed the document on your website or blog or publish it as a webpage. 
  • Add some multimedia to your chart. You can add links to websites and online sources, add video and audio clips and attach files. 
  • Have your students add content to the chart during school or as part of a homework assignment. Make it a collaborative, working document. 
  • Have students personalize their learning goals by creating their own digital KWL to use as they progress in the unit of study. 
  • For younger students, you can create a KWL using Voicethread or another web tool that has an audio recording feature. 
  • Get creative with QR Codes.Check out Mrs. Weeden's blog to see how her first graders used Padlet and QR codes to go digital with their KWL. 

Here is a simple example that I created using Popplet to show how you can embed video, images, and links.
Have fun and please share your thoughts, experiences and insights by posting a comment!

5 comments:

  1. I am thinking that Edmodo might be a good place to get kids posting what they know about a topic as well as questions they have prior to introducing it. You can save a lot of "in class time" that way and students would have more time to think and bounce around ideas.

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    1. Edmodo would be a great platform for activating prior knowledge. Great idea!

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  2. I have always dreamed of starting/writing a blog. I thought "Why not now? Why not write about happenings in the Art room, art world, enrichment?" My blog would not only serve as my personal goal, but it would be my Professional Development Portfolio, a means of making student work visible, and communicating with parents and the community.

    Is there a way I can incorporate KWHL in the blog?

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    1. Great idea! I am doing the same thing with my professional portfolio. I created a blog called 'Cultivating Tech Savvy Teachers' so that I can share my learning as I work with the awesome teachers of RSD6. Sure, you can put a KWHL in your blog. What do you KNOW about blogging? WHAT do you want to learn?

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  3. Thanks for the great idea of a digital KWL to share with parents! I am planning to use this idea this week as we begin our informational text study. I will let you know how it goes for us.

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