I have recently been working with Simon Dean and a group of amazing Grade 11 students, on the concept of "Show me the Learning". Simon's initial discussion was around finding a way to truly discover if student's have been able to grasp and to explain concepts in Chemistry. As an Economist's teacher, I am always grappling with this same concept. Students can now effectively plagiarize understanding from books and the internet without really being able to apply conceptual knowledge to the real world.
I believe that technology, is an amazing tool students can use to demonstrate understanding, and for teachers to see and hear how students apply and break down concepts. By using specific tools, teachers can understand some of the students metacognition as they explain an idea. This offers the opportunity for very effective formative feedback.
In Simon's Chemistry class, students had to deconstuct a complex idea into simple language, effectively at level of instruction so that others could understand. This kind of idea of prevalent in a series of videos produced in a Commoncraft Genre. The student were also inspired by the series of RSA Animate presentations that are truly creative. Students had to create a presentation that combined the use of visuals and including an essential oral narration.
The following video is a showcase of the class and a reflection on the technique.