Tiina Kähärä`s Learning Diary for the Creative use of Tablets in Schools MOOC by Tiina Kähärä

Hello

tiina_kahara — 2015-04-20 05:55:53 UTC

My name is Tiina and I am a primary school teacher from Finland. I live 30 minutes from our capital Helsinki and I am teaching in Kytöpuisto School in Vantaa. Our school has 400 pupils aged 6-13, that means grades 1-6. I have been teaching 15 years and I am also a Deputy Ambassador for Scientix project. We also have ERASMUS+ project going on at our school and we are in the middle of new Curriculum 2016 process which I am involved in national and regional level.

Tablets and our school

tiina_kahara — 2015-04-20 06:08:38 UTC

In our region we have one tablet/two pupils given by schools. Tablets are used almost daily, but we have just started this process with tablets and it is a new thing. A lot to learn. This is why I took part on this learning course to gain more ideas. I would like to see pupils using tablets as tools for learning and creating.

Video about science lessons

tiina_kahara — 2015-04-20 08:00:37 UTC

Video our pupils made about break time activities at school

tiina_kahara — 2015-04-20 08:15:13 UTC

My pupils on TV show when they entered Kodukup 2014 competition on coding (in Finnish)

tiina_kahara — 2015-04-20 08:21:39 UTC

Challenges

tiina_kahara — 2015-04-20 08:46:00 UTC

In our school we have tablets and we have 20 laptops and quite enaugh computers in our computer room. Challenge is to get teachers involved using them. Tablets are already being used but we need more education how to use them properly, not just for playing but also to create something new. This is first year we are using the tablets and we need more ideas and courses. In Finland we are also in middle of process preparing the new curriculum which is starting in 2016. We need more collaboration to share our knowledge on tablets and more time to learn.

Creating content using tablets, an example

tiina_kahara — 2015-04-22 10:27:23 UTC

with my pupils (10-11 years olds) we created plant lists using tablets. Each pupil

discovered the plant in nature, took a photo and created a plant list using Word or Powerpoint with details of the certain plant.

School to school collaboration with tablets

tiina_kahara — 2015-04-27 08:20:28 UTC

2011-2013 we had ERASMUS+ project with Greece, UK and Poland. Project was

about environment and its challenges. We kept contact and created a blog where we shared our work.

Forming groups and dedication

tiina_kahara — 2015-04-27 08:30:25 UTC

can be tricky if you don´t know your pupils well. Better to form smaller groups (2-4) where pupils can openly share their ideas. Sometimes it´s good to mix pupils with others than their friends, even if the result won´t be the best expected but reason to do so is to train them for the future challenges. It´s essential to be able to work with every kind of personalities. Teachers shouldn´t think so much of the outcome but the journey, how to reach it and what you can learn while doing it.

Lesson Plan

tiina_kahara — 2015-05-08 07:47:24 UTC

My lesson plan was for 6th grade history

class. I had created Padlet wall with instructions

about Finnish history after Middle age. First pupils

found my wall wit QR-code (lesson about QR-codes

were earlier). Pupils could choose on different topics and

create a Padlet wall about chosen topic. They could work

on it during the breaks (on the hallway) or at home.

They truely enjoyed it and this type of excersice was a succes.

They haven´t finished their task yet, but here´s one ready example

by Asta 12 years old about "Beginning of New Era with Gustav Wasa"