CEP 822-Introduction and Background

A big push in education is for teachers to use technology in the classroom. My room had two computers for students, and I frequently use them as a learning station so they could play math games, use tutorials, watch videos from websites such as khanacademy.org, and to prepare for standardized tests. I was able to use my computer to present bright, interactive lessons with video and audio capabilities onto a Promethean whiteboard. Additionally, I had a class set of classroom response system "clickers" that was compatible with the Promethean board that allowed me to create polls and multiple choice question sets and a set of Texas Instruments graphing calculators. The question I wish to address is, "Does the increased use of technology in classrooms result in higher student achievement?

This issue is important to me for a variety of reasons. First, it bothers me that students struggle in school, and I am hopeful that technology is having a positive effect. Next, I have taught at two schools, two traditional and one alternative, that offered online core courses to students, such as Algebra, English, and World History, and if these dollars on new technology for classrooms, networking equipment, teacher training, adding a technology coordinator position, and equipment upkeep and repair, and I am hopeful that there are positive results from the money spent. Finally, I consider myself technology savvy and like working on computers and designing lessons that use more technology so will my future continue along the current path or will we revert back to traditional teaching models.

The practical significance of this question has elements that are similar to my personal relates to both teachers and the public at-large. First, teachers jobs could be at stake if technology, particularly online curriculum, is successful at increasing student achievement. I taught at an alternative school that had many students complete their work at home with little teacher input so it is not completely outlandish that fewer teaching jobs may be necessary.

While many educators, politicians and technology manufacturers speak in glowing terms about how technology can improve academic skills, my experience is that kids still struggle in school and do poorly on standardized tests. As a taxpayer, I would not be happy if my taxes are being spent on items that are not helping raise student achievement particularly at the expense of teachers. I am particularly close to this subject because I and 29 other teachers were laid off due to budget cuts yet the room I taught in got brand new projectors, interactive whiteboards, and graphing calculators. Many have opined about the issue of technology in schools improving student achievement, and the reviews are mixed. Matt Richtel of the New York Times writes in his nytimes.com article, "In Classroom of Future, Stagnant Scores," about an Arizona school that spent over $30 million on technology but test scores have been flat. Julie Mack of MLive.com and the Kalamazoo Gazette writes that in "Does Classroom Technology Improve Student Achievement" that "...there are an alarming number of students who assume they don't need to learn math because they can just use a calculator-ignoring that effective use of a calculator requires a thorough grasp of math formulas."

Not surprisingly, there are many who strongly believe that technology in the classroom supports higher levels of success. In the report, "Technology and Student Achievement", Nancy Protheroe writes, "When properly implemented, computer technology had a significant effect on student achievement, as measured by test scores across subject areas and with students at all levels."(p. 47) Also, in CLOSING THE ACHIEVEMENT GAP Integrating Technology in the K-12 Classroom: Implications For Public Policy, the Education Alliance says that studies "...found that there were measurable increases in student achievement in classrooms where technology was embedded and properly utilized." (p.4)

References

CLOSING THE ACHIEVEMENT GAP Integrating Technology in the K-12 Classroom: Implications for Public Policy. (n.d.). educationalliance.org. Retrieved July 9, 2012, from http://www.educationalliance.org/files/Integrating-Technology.pdf

Mack, J. (n.d.). Column: Does classroom technology improve student achievement | MLive.com. MLive.com. Retrieved July 9, 2012, from http://www.mlive.com/opinion/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2011/03/column_does_classroom_technolo.html

Protheroe, N. (n.d.). Technology and Student Achievement. naesp.org. Retrieved July 9, 2012, from http://d6test.naesp.org/resources/2/Principal/2005/N-Dp46.pdf

Richtel, M. (n.d.). Technology in Schools Faces Questions on Value - NYTimes.com. The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. Retrieved July 9, 2012, from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/04/technology/technology-in-schools-faces-questions-on-value.html?_r=1&ref=gradingthedigitalschool

Final Wicked Project

Problem:  I teach at an alternative high school where the students have high absentee rates.  Unfortunately, apathy is a major reason for this.  However, most of my kids do care but have to take care of their children, have no way to arrive at school, or live in transient households so I want to provide a platform that provides students an opportunity maintain good grades.

Solution:  To help solve this problem, I designed a website that allowed me to download copies of homework, assignments, completed notes, video tutorials, a blog and links to websites so kids can get extra practice. 

Parents:In addition to the features I already have on my site,  Rebeccah Haines points out in her article, “Keep parents in the loop with a class website” that classroom websites are great for keeping parents informed about assignments, links to educational websites, and calendars.  

 

 

 (TP):  The technology and pedagogy of my website is strong, and it supports my instruction in that it allows me to provide activities that will meet multiple learning styles.  Some people thrive seeing videos of how to solve problems and others are auditory so hearing the steps of a problem is valuable.  Also, I have sites that offer problem simulations which will give kids yet another option, and I intend on perfecting my ability to produce StAIRs, videos, blogs and podcasts so the kids get a personal touch.

 (TC):  For technology and content, I have to make sure that all students are comfortable with the technologies I give them to use.    A large percent of my students, especially the ones who have been absent from school, have a high level of stress when it comes to math so I don't want to add any more stress by not having them be familiar using the website, downloading assignments, finding videos, locating tutorials, accessing practice, and blogging.  It would be great if the kids do not have to troubleshoot problems and deal with bugs so technical issues need to be minimized.  In fact, I plan on spending much of the beginning of the school year teaching technology skills over teaching math.

 (PC):  The PC piece of the puzzle is covered because students will be able to enhance their reasoning skills, both inductive and deductive as there are a variety of activities that will give them chances to visualize and hear the content I want them to learn, to communicate with others and to discover things on their own.  My lessons will start off with the basics, but later the lessons will become more difficult and include analyzing solutions, describing how they came up with their solutions, and designing their own problems. am excited about the opportunities for my students!

Implementation:  The implementation of my website went well.  I received positive feedback from teachers and students.  The kids who took the time to check out the site found the idea that they could download assignments.  I was disappointed that more kids did not utilize the site.  Changes I would make include notifying more parents about the website, taking more time to show the kids how to use the site, providing more completed notes and embedding videos for each lesson instead of having the kids copy notes off of another student ,which happens infrequently, or having students search for their own videos.  In addition, I plan on making my own videos on Jing or Movie Maker to give lessons a personal touch.

Findings and Implementation:  I feel that my project was a success.  It was not difficult to implement and students simply had to remember the address which I wrote on my whiteboard and gave on a hard copy.  I am disappointed, but not shocked that more kids did not take advantage of the site, but apathy is a major issue amongst the kids I teach.  When I use the site next year I will organize it better, instruct on how to use the site and get information to parents on how to use the site.  In John White’s report “The Planning Stages of Creating a Classroom Web Site:  Where to Begin?”, he says, “Planning is a critical stage to creating a classroom website.” , and I agree with that analysis so I will make sure to take time to do so.

 

 

 

 

Citations

Haines, R.. (Year, Month. Day ). In Keep parents in the loop with a class website. Retrieved Jun. 23, 2011, from http://www.learnnc.org/lp/pages/6639 

White, J.. (2001, Month. Day ). In The Planning Stages of Creating A Classroom Web Site: Where to Begin?. Retrieved Jun. 23, 2011, from faculty.umb.edu/peter_taylor/610white.doc

Professional Learning Plan

Here is my first shot at Prezi.  I didn't mention it on my project, but it is a pretty cool application.  All the more reason to keep going w/ ed tech! 
http://prezi.com/g1onrpgomehy/professional-learning-plan/

Professional Learning Plan on Prezi

Group Leadership Final

It was terrific to work with my group of high school teachers to create our group project though there were some ups and downs because of us having to deal with end of school year issues, relocation, and health issues. First, our brainstorming webinar was a disaster with WebHuddle. One member was unable to logon to the meeting despite having all of the logon information, and I was dropped off in the middle of the meeting and was unable to log back on.


Our project is a professional development tool that shows users how to use Weebly, a free website development tool, to provide students and/or parents access to material that was missed because of student absence or to provide tutoring and practice to those who had trouble understanding the material.

First, I started a Weebly website, cep812highschoolleadership.weebly.com, that each member could edit. However, since I have more experience editing on Weebly, I was the leader of the development of the site. Next, each of us used Jing, which is an outstanding screen capture tool that we used to make screencast videos of the slides that we developed on Google Presenter. Then I had my team members email me the embed code which I was then able to add to the website. Sami was in charge of the intro and conclusion text.

My specific video was on downloading homework, notes, and tutorials. I used a Weebly site for this use during the last quarter of the school year, and the results were promising because some of my students used the site to download assignments and to watch video tutorials. I think the instructions provided to users and the videos my group made for our site are easy to understand.

Things I might have done differently:  for our storyboard, we used Google Presenter and used Google Documents for the script. In retrospect, I would use Presenter if for no other reason than it was inefficient to have to back and forth to compare the two parts during our collaborations. Also, it might have been good to add  music or effects using Camtasia.

Here are our Jing videos.

Introduction by Shannon Forsberg



Video by Samantha Forster



Homework by me



Blogging by Kathy Raphael

Wicked Project Part D-Findings and Implications

My Wicked Problem Project was implemented, and I deem it a success. My project was to develop a website that provided students with the opportunity to download homework assignments and notes and to provide tutorials and opportunities for review and practice. The implementation was not difficult in that I was the one who did all of the finding and uploading of materials, and the only thing the students had to do was remember the web address, which I printed and copied for them and wrote it on my whiteboard for all to see.

There was some evidence of success as a few students, who were absent from school for varying periods of time, came to class with copies of notes and assignments, and a couple of them mentioned watching a video. They all had positive responses about the site and mentioned they thought it was great that they could get their work while at home. However, I was disappointed more did not take advantage of the website. My school has a high absentee rate, and while many of the kids are apathetic about school, many do care. In fact, quite a few of my students have young children at home and this would have been a great opportunity for them to maintain good grades, but they could not or would not take advantage.

While I feel very positive about my work, there are things I will do differently next year. First, I will make sure I have more completed notes with examples provided for the kids in advance. I provided blank copies of notes, but I didn't have completed notes, initially, because I thought kids would copy the notes from friends, but the last couple of weeks I upload completed notes. The same goes for videos. I have a "tutorials" page with links to math and/or video sites, but two students mentioned that they were unsure where to look once they accessed a website. I mentioned that they could use the titles from the notes to search for videos, etc, but they were confused about it. Additionally, I will use the blog page I added to the site. I didn't have the time to teach the kids proper blog use and etiquette, and blogging will be a significant part of my classes next year.

There are lessons I learned from this that others would benefit from. First, creating a website on Weebly is not difficult. I just played around on Weebly and discovered what I needed. Next, I wish I'd taken more time to explain to the kids how the site works and show them the benefits. Finally, teachers need to make certain that students will easily find information. It was not hard for the kids to find assignments, but they had to work too hard to find topical videos, examples, and practice.

Next year, I will definitely use a website for my classes. Without a doubt, I will need to make the changes I mentioned in previous paragraphs, but the changes are neither difficult nor unreasonable.

Leadership Project Part B - Storyboard and Script

Our storyboard and script are coming along nicely.  The project we are working on is using Weebly as a tool to aid in communication, to help students keep up with their assignments, and to compliment what we a doing in the classroom.  The topic I have been working on is how Weebly can be effective in helping kids, who have been missing school, have access to homework assignments and lessons, and it is a topic that I have had experience with since I used it last semester for my classes with positive results.  To access my part of the storyboard and script, click on the links and look for slides 34-45 on our Google Presentation (storyboard) and my portion of the script can be read in the orange highlighted text in our Google Document and in the speaker notes of the storyboard.

I had fun making slides and using Jing and Snagit for screen captures, and I'm liking that we have been working well as a team.  It has been challenging because we have had trouble finding common available times to collaborate. Perhaps end of school year issues have attributed to our difficulties, but the people I work with have been great teammates.  I look forward to our final product.

Mobile Learning

The district I teach in treats social networks and smart phones similarly to the principal from N.J. in the Prezi presentation:  they are afraid of the extreme minority of students who abuse them.  Kids are kids, and if you tempt them with the "forbidden fruit," they will take a bite.  Teacher's jobs have always been to teach and prepare young people more than just our subject-matter, but also, the proper way of doing a variety of things like manners and discipline.  We can easily add technology to the list things we need to teach.

I wish I had more access to smart phones and Ipads because tools like Poll Everywhere can be very useful.  ; I would use them for formative and summative assessments, and I think the polls could be helpful in keeping students engaged.  Heck, they seemed pretty engaged w/ their phones already.  Let's see if the kids will use the phones as a learning tools.  Plus, if teachers had access to the same technology, we would be able to "approximate" with students because we could move around more with phones instead of having to be stagnant at a whiteboard or overhead projector. Here is a poll I made.

Build television sms voting polls at Poll Everywhere

 Eventually, schools will wake up and get with the program.  The world is changing, and we need to keep up.  Let's add smart phones, Ipads, Droids, etc to our schools as they are necessary if our kids are going to receive a modern, quality education.