drivers and ideas for classroom interaction katie wray 25/06/2013 katie.wray@ncl.ac.uk

Drivers and ideas for classroom interaction

Katie Wray

25/06/2013

katie.wray@ncl.ac.uk

Drivers for Interaction• Why do we want more classroom interaction?• Do our students want classroom interaction?

• Wealth of experience in the room• Getting a response / validation• Collecting feedback / ideas; ensuring comprehension• Making meaning / identifying relevance• Addressing learner diversity; appealing to learning styles• Generating ideas

Examples of interaction1. Ice-breakers??!!2. Getting a response3. Students as individuals4. Toolkits

1. Ice Breakers??!!• Not Another Ice-breaker! (Susan Landay, March 2011)

• Express expectations• Introductions (content, people)• Community building• Get conversations going, set the tone for

participation• Sense of ownership over the learning• Break down teacher-student barriers• Understand knowledge and experience, resource

identificationSource: http://elearnmag.acm.org/archive.cfm?aid=1966301

Example• Understanding the group• Clarifying diversity, whilst discovering experience• Achieves purpose and my own objectives

• Larger groups:• Interaction and clustering• Representative feedback

Never heard of entrepreneurship

until todayRunning a business

2. Getting a Response• Emphasise non-classroom learning

• Dependent on your role as an educator• The power of Post-it notes

• The swapping technique

3. Learners as individuals• Learning styles already embedded in approach• About identifying areas of interest / relevance• Educator to be introduced to specialisms or unfamiliar

contexts (e.g. Singapore)

Example• Student generated content using educator tools1. Identify topic (societal challenge issue)2. Quick and dirty research 3. Feedback findings for discussion 4. Record discussion topics (on board)5. Vote as a cohort (raise hand for top 3)6. a) Design learning and skills outcomes in relation to these topics

b) Or generate ideas in relation to these topics7. Use of World Café toolkit• Larger groups – cluster based approach to topic identification,

voting using Turning Point

4. Toolkits• XING - Commercial awareness• Ketso - Creative engagement• World Café - Conversational process• Belbin – Team Cooperation• Colourblind – Advanced communication skills

Available via Careers Service Staff Webpages:http://www.ncl.ac.uk/careers/academics/employability/case_studies.php