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.