Reflection

Course: Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas
Instructor: Virgil Kirk

Thanks to the technological advances found in our educational environment, learning is no longer confined to the four walls of the classroom. If the 21st century teacher wants to capture the attention of her students she will need to integrate technology into the curriculum. This task can be challenging but the rewards will benefit both the teacher and her students. Using a variety of instructional strategies and learning tools students will be interacting and taking ownership of their learning. The GAME plan I developed during this course will assist me in developing lessons that will challenge my students.

I’m still working on my first goal:5b exhibit leadership by demonstrating a vision of technology infusion, participating in shared decision making and community building, and developing the leadership and technology skill of others.

After the Christmas break I plan on starting the “Tech Café” for my staff. I’m looking forward to sharing different ways to enhance the curriculum with technology. The biggest hurdle I had to overcome for this goal was patience. I wanted everyone to be as excited as I am about technology. I realize that technology means change and some of my colleagues are digital immigrants and will take time to assimilate.

My second goal: 2c: customize and personalize learning activates to address students’ diverse learning styles, working strategies, and abilities using digital tools and resource.

While developing my plan I was able to introduce technology in a purposeful manner. For each lesson, the standards correlated to the curriculum and created a higher level of learning for my students. I liked that the GAME plan allows for modification and revamping of ideas. The GAME plan is flexible and easy to create. At this time I will not be modifying my plan. After the break I plan on having my students create their own GAME plan.

I am very excited about implementing the GAME plan I created in our learning community. While developing this plan I was able to visualize the different technologies and how they will enhance the content of the lesson. This is a unit I will be able to modify and adjust as needed. I believe this unit has opened my eyes to the many possibilities that technology offers in the learning environment.

Using the GAME Plan Process

Course: Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas
Instructor: Virgil Kirk

When I first read about the GAME plan process I thought it would be very time consuming and another item to add to my overflowing plate. I was pleasantly surprised. I thought the process helped me organize my thoughts and the direction I wanted my lessons to go. It also gave me the opportunity to revisit my plan and revamp it if I needed to.

Using the GAME plan process with my students helps them to become self-directed learners. They become responsible to take a closer look at their own learning. It gives them the skills to learn how to synthesize information and develop a way to track their own progress. It will also give students ownership of their learning environment. Teaching this process will take time but the end result will be to benefit both the teacher and students. I have really enjoyed reading everyone’s GAME Plan and I hope you are able to successfully infuse it into your classroom.

Revising my GAME plan

Course: Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas
Instructor: Virgil Kirk






So far I have learned that integrating technology can be a slow process and I need to be very patient. This is the same when I’m teaching because students are like snowflakes – each is unique and has a unique way of learning. As a teacher I need to be patient and let them be creative in their exploration of the topics. As the teacher, I need to facilitate that learning. This may include guiding students toward a finished product. I really enjoy watching my students explore different ways to express what they have learned. This has given them ownership of their education and allowed them to express themselves.

I want to continue to incorporate technology into my content area instead of always assessing my students with flat piece of paper. In the same respect, I need to realize some that a pencil paper assessment might be the best way to assess students progress.

At this time I don’t want to add additional NETs standards onto my very busy schedule. I still need to follow through with my “Tech Café” plan and get more teachers involved with integrating technology into the classroom. I just found out that I am getting a student teacher for the spring semester. During her six weeks residence I will use that time to expand my “Tech Café” to more hands-on/in class assistance for my colleagues.

Evaluating my GAME plan

Course: Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas

Instructor: Virgil Kirk

“Patience is a virtue” could not be a truer statement with regards to my GAME plan. I feel as if I’m at a stand still on Goal 1. I have created the staff survey and sent it out but only seven people have responded. With the end of the quarter and holidays my staff is very busy and the last thing they want to do is fill out a survey. Some of them stated that they couldn’t open up the form so I’m going to put some paper forms in the lounge to see if I can get more responses.

I have come to the conclusion that these seven colleagues will help spread the news and get the rest of my staff excited about learning new ways to infuse technology into their lessons. Next Monday I will be meeting with my Building Tech person to start our “Infused Technology” plan. I’m excited about organizing what we want to do and that will help guide my “Tech Café.”

My students did fill out their “Learning Style” survey. They were very excited to learn what their learning style was. I was surprised by some of the results but for the most part I had figured out what style they were. This week we began the webquest I wrote for EDUC 6712: Supporting Information Literacy and Online Inquiry in the Classroom.

One of the tasks was to communicate with an Elder from their assigned region. They had to ask permission to explore the region. As a class we brainstormed different methods to communicate and the teams were allowed to pick which method they wanted. After it was created they had clues on the location in the school their elder was at and the team delivered the message. The different methods were: word processor, comic life and create a post card, or write it out on a piece of paper. All the students used comic life and even imported a picture for the region they are studying.

I was very proud of the results but more than that, my students were excited about the lesson. I talked to each of my “mock” Elders and they reported back the enthusiasm my students had when delivering their message. I still want to brainstorm a list of different ways to infuse technology into our lessons but this first experience was top notch!

Checking In!

Course: Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas

Instructor: Virgil Kirk

• Are you finding the information and resources you need?

Right now I’m still in the gathering stage of my GAME plan. I conducted a survey with my staff. I have only received seven surveys back. I think the Turkey Holiday is occupying my colleagues and they may have been a little busy to fill out the form. I will nudge them a little bit in the coming weeks. I’m going to meet with my building tech guru next week to go over the types of resources I will need for my workshops.

Because of the short school week I wasn’t able to have my students take the learning style inventory test. I plan on having them fill it out next week.

• Do you need to modify your action plan?

I think my action plan is well written and I don’t feel I need to modify it.

• What have you learned so far?

This process is very slow. Having a GAME plan to keep me on track keeps me organized. My staff seems very excited about learning different ways to integrate technology into their classrooms. I used Google Docs to create my survey and I learned that I need to include a place for names because it doesn’t identify who did the survey. Now I will have to send an email out asking my staff to identify who is interested in the “Tech Café”. If you haven’t used Google Docs before they are very easy. One cool feature I found is that the program will create a spreadsheet compiling the data.
One of the most frustrating things for me is that when I’m trying to create a project for my students I seem to go overboard. I have learned that more is not always better. Every project does not have to include technology.

• What new questions have arisen?

Some of the questions I’m asking myself include: Do I have time to create projects that include technology? Will the projects give me a clearer picture of my student’s abilities?

Carrying out my GAME Plan

Course: Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas

Instructor: Virgil Kirk

What resources will I need to carry out my GAME plan (video, reading, experts, or colleagues, etc)?

First goal: I will need to contact my Edtech expert and discuss different technology concepts/software I can teach to my staff. During our discussion we will also compile a survey that I will give my staff to determine what their interests are.

Second goal: I will need to determine which forms of technology my students are already proficient in. I will do this be giving them a survey. The survey will cover a variety of technology concepts so I have a clear picture of my student’s skills.

What additional information do I need?

First Goal: After my teachers have finished the survey I will tabulate the information and develop a schedule with the topics for each meeting. I have decided that the “Tech Café” will be open once a month and the topics of discussion will be posted so the teachers can decided which ones would best suit their needs. My plan is to have the meetings in the morning for about 30 minutes. I will take about 10 minutes to introduce the topic and then the teachers can have 20 minutes to explore.

Second Goal: After my students complete the survey I will review their answers to decide what technology they know and what I need to teach or review.

What steps have I been able to take so far?

First Goal: I have proposed my idea to my principal and he felt it was an excellent use of my technology expertise. In addition to the “Tech Café” I’m going to communicate to my colleagues via a digital newsletter. I’m in the process of developing the format. I have also talked to the Sunshine committee at my school and they will provide juice and doughnuts for the “Tech Café” to entice teachers to attend.

Second Goal: I’m reviewing different lessons that I teach and deciding which lesson would fit this goal. I want to give my students the opportunity to “think outside of the box” when they are creating their final project. Here are a few of my lesson ideas:

• Math – My students are learning about arrays – have them create a project that would visually assist a student that is learning how to solve multiplication problems using arrays.

• Science – pick an ordinary household item then redesign the object and what it is used for.

• Writing – Learning to use the 6-trait Voice - Create a story using voice and image.

I would love some feed back on my lesson plan ideas.

Dawn Bell

My GAME Plan

Course: Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas

Instructor: Virgil Kirk

Advocating effective use of technology at my school has been a personal goal of mine for the past five years. It is also the reason I’m in this Masters Program. After reviewing the National Educational Technology Standards (NETS-T) for teachers I realized that I already promoted some of the standards within my classroom and school. There are two standards that I would like to focus on for my GAME plan.

I agree with Peggy Ertmer that a supportive team is needed in order to integrate technology effectively (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009). There are still members of my staff that believe technology should not be a part of the school day. A teacher made a comment that if she cuts anything out of her day it is her computer lab time. This type of mindset only fuels my passion to continue modeling the benefits of technology in the classroom.

My first standard is:

5b exhibit leadership by demonstrating a vision of technology infusion, participating in shared decision making and community building, and developing the leadership and technology skill of others.

Goal: I want my colleagues to learn a variety of ways they can incorporate technology into their lessons. I also want them to understand the impact technology will have on their students’ learning environment. Along with this I would like to have a committee would help map out the technology direction for our school.

Action: Provide a bimonthly “Tech Café” infusion gathering. During this time different software, lessons or projects will be demonstrated. A guest, a colleague or myself would do the demonstrations. I also envision this as a time to share ideas about the direction our school should take with technology.

Monitor: At each “Tech Café” gathering we will have a sharing time to reflect on technology that was integrated.

Evaluate: At the end of two months I will take a survey of the staff to see if the “Tech Café” was useful or if we need to include different types of technology.

As teachers become more confident in their technology skills I believe they will begin to include it more in their lessons.

My second standard is:

2c: customize and personalize learning activates to address students’ diverse learning styles, working strategies, and abilities using digital tools and resource.

Goal: My students will identify their learning style and will use a digital tool that will creatively complete a learning activity.

Action: Have my students take a test that will identify their learning style. Brainstorm and identify different digital tools that will address each of the learning styles. Provide a learning opportunity that allows my students to determine which digital tool they will use for their final project.

Monitor: Provide the students with a rubric to monitor their progress. During the process review my students’ progress and redirect it if needed. At the end of the project have the students reflect on their experience.

Evaluate: I will evaluate the final project and my rubric will include my learning objectives. If the students were able to grasp the objectives then my goal would have been met. I would reevaluate the process and expand on my expectations if they did not.

I look forward to your comments and any suggestions you may have regarding my GAME plan.

Dawn Bell

References

Laureate Education Inc. (Producer). (2009). Program three. Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas (Motion picture) Enriching Content Area Learning Experiences with Technology Baltimore: Author.

National Education Standards for Teachers (NETS-T). Retrieved November 5, 2009 from http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final.pdf.

Search by Creative Commons. Retrieved on November 10, 2009 from http://www.flickr.com/photos/sashafatcat/ / CC BY 2.0

My Reflection

Course: EDUC-6712I-1 Supporting Information Literacy and Online Inquiry in the Classroom

Instructor: Susan Krauss

The most striking revelation I had while taking this course was that I needed to continue to change how I prepare my students for their future. Information is changing so rapidly that I need to help my students learn how to obtain valid information while sifting through mounds of different resources. I need to continue modeling for my students “how to learn” and break the habit of teaching at them. Another revelation I had during this course was that “it’s not about the technology” (Laurate Education, Inc. 2009). I also heard this statement during a training seminar attended. My analysis of this statement is that if your lesson is bad the technology is not going to make it meaningful. As an educator I need to be aware of how the lesson is delivered and the connection students make with the information.

The knowledge and experience I have gained over the last eight weeks will give me the foundation to teach my students the literacy skills they will need to be successful in their future. Students need to be inspired and engaged in their learning. I want them to “Think outside of the box” (Laurate Education, Inc. 2009). By infusing the different skills into my lessons I will give my students the strategies needed to be creative problem solvers.

One professional goal I have is to continue learning about different information literacy and technology skills. There are many steps I will take to continue this journey. I will attend a variety of inservices and trainings related to technology. I also will keep up to date on any changes by reading different educational blog sites. Along with learning this information I will provide mini trainings for my colleagues to keep them “Tech Savvy.”

Another goal I have is to model different ways to connect with people. I want to open up the classroom doors and become connected with others. I will do this by having my students share information on a class blog or create a wiki page with another classroom. I also would like my students to participate in a Skype conference with another classroom outside of my school. The project would be a follow up on our social studies unit “Trekking Across Alaska.” Each class would give the students clues about their state to determine what state they are from. This would create a connection to the curriculum as well as communicating information through a different multimedia format.

I believe educators needs to step out of the confines of the classroom and embrace the digital world we live in. As educators we may need to educate the administration to reevaluate how information is being taught to our students. If our classrooms do not become forward thinking our students will not be prepared for their future and be behind in this digital age of information.

References

Millard, David. (2009). The hoos-foos muse. Retrived October 24, 2009 from

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_pqvfYJ1yp4/Sds23ZJlV7I/AAAAAAAAAkg/HEis4qf2eX8/s400/webbookshelf.jpg

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Program three. Essential Questions in Inquiry Projects [Motion picture]. Supporting Information Literacy and Online Inquiry in the Classroom. Baltimore: Author.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Program thirteen. It’s Not About The Technology [Motion picture]. Supporting Information Literacy and Online Inquiry in the Classroom. Baltimore: Author.

Evaluating Research

Week 7: Evaluating Research Methods

EDUC – 6653I-2 Introduction to Educational Research

Instructor: Kathryn Arnold

The world of education is constantly changing. Along with those changes educational research has evolved to include a variety of different methods. Some researchers will manipulate the data in order to have a desired result. It is the role of the teacher to be knowledgeable of the key points of each form of research. Teachers need to look at research in a critical manner and determine if the data is valid. Prior to this course I did not know the difference between qualitative and quantitative research design. I now feel confident that I can determine the type of method needed with certain forms of research. I will evaluate the scenarios below and decipher what method I would use to conduct the study.

Scenario 1: Ten students are available for in-depth interviews. Participants will be selected based on their involvement with the peer mediation program. They will be observed over three weeks. Analysis will attempt to determine issues concerning peer mediation.

• Scenario 1 represents a qualitative research plan. A key factor to qualitative research is the type of data that is collect and typically it is interactive and uses a “face-to face” technique subjects (McMillan & Schumacher, 2008). In this study the researcher will conduct an in-depth interview with each of the students.

Scenario 2: Two classrooms of students are selected. There are 30 students in each class; each group will have similar demographics—age, sex, race, socio-economic background, etc. Classes will be randomly divided into two groups of 15 students. Of these two groups, one randomly selected group will get training on peer mediation and the other group will not. Thus in each classroom there will be one group that is trained in peer mediation and one that is not. Analysis will occur on which groups have the fewest office referrals.

• Scenario 2 represents a quantitative research plan. Within quantitative research there are 2 different subclassifications experimental and nonexperimental designs. This study would fall under the experimental design. The researcher will compare two different groups to determine the cause and effect of a predetermined set of question(s). Within an experimental design the researcher has control over the subjects (McMillan & Schumacher, 2008).

Scenario 3: A school counselor is interested in knowing how student attitudes affect the value of peer mediation to decrease the number of office referrals that are being filed for inappropriate interactions.

• Scenario 3 represents an action research plan. In this scenario the school counselor is trying to determine a behavior that is pertinent to the local setting, which is different than a traditional research. Most likely the researcher would use a descriptive data analysis to determine the findings. The end results from this study would have a changing effect in the action of students (McMillan & Schumacher, 2008).

Scenario 4: Peer mediation has become widely used in many schools. The feelings of those involved in the process are little known—either from those doing the mediation or those receiving it. The ZASK-R Acceptance Preference Survey will be given as pre- and post-tests to 40 students participating in mediation. Follow-up interviews will be conducted on a bi-monthly basis.

• Scenario 4 represents a mixed-method research design. This type of research combines both quantitative and qualitative method of gathering data. In this scenario the researcher is using a survey as a pre and post test to the study. Surveys are used to determine attitude, belief or opinions in a quantitative design subjects (McMillan & Schumacher, 2008). The bi-monthly interviews would produce data that is in the form of words instead of numbers subjects (McMillan & Schumacher, 2008).

Good research allows educators to better their teaching practices, which in turn provides an enriched learning environment for children. It is important to educate students on how to evaluate research. By being able to comprehend different studies students, will have a deeper awareness of the world around them.

Resources

McMillian, J. H., & Schumacher, S. (2006). Research in Education: Evidence-based inquiry (6th Ed.). Boston, Massachusetts: Pearson Education, Inc.

The Research Question

Week 3: Research Question
EDUC-6653I-2 Introduction to Educational Research
Instructor: Kathryn Arnold

In this weeks DVD Dr. Canipe explains that in order to write research questions I needed to dissect my problem statement (Laureate Education, Inc., 2008). At first this task was a little confusing. I was over analyzing the different questions. After further investigation I realized my questions were very specific and researchable (Laureate Education, Inc., 2008).

The research design of my problem statement is Quantitative. The main feature of quantitative research design is to analysis numerical data using structure and a controlled environment (McMillan & Schumacher, 2008, p. 23). My questions fall under experimental and nonexperimental subcategories. For the majority of my question I will use a true experimental design. A true experimental design uses random assignments. Each of my test groups will have an opportunity to participate in both experiments (McMillan & Schumacher, 2008, p. 24). I will use surveys for my motivational questions, which is a feature of the nonexperimental category.

My problem statement is:
I plan to determine if elementary students’ writing abilities and motivation would increase if they were allowed to use a word processor instead of pencil and paper application?

My research questions:
1. Will the length of the writing assignment increase by using a word processor? (Quantitative - True Experimental)
2. Will using a word processor increase my students time on task?(Quantitative - True Experimental)
3. Do keyboarding skills influence my students’ ability to use a word processor? (Quantitative - correlational)
4. Does the form of writing assignment increase or decrease my students motivation to use a word processor over pencil/paper? (Quantitative - survey)
5. How will I measure my student’s motivation towards using a word process instead of pencil/paper application?(Quantitative - survey)
6. How does the teacher’s knowledge and comfort level towards using technology influence her students?(Quantitative - survey)
7. Do the features in word processors help or hinder a student’s writing ability (i.e. spellcheck, etc.)? (Quantitative - True Experimental)
8. Do the features in word processors increase or decrease the teacher's level of participation in the course? (Quantitative - survey)

I would like to thank Cesar for suggesting question number nine and ten. I believe those questions helped to round out my set of research questions.
I look forward to your feed back and any suggestions you may have regarding my research questions of problem statement.

Reference:
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008). Program three. Research Questions [Motion picture]. Introduction to educational research. Baltimore: Author.
McMillan, J., & Schumacher, S. (2008) Research in education: Evidence-based inquiry (Laureate custom edition). Boston: Pearson.

Problem Statement

Week 2: Purpose/Problem Statements
EDUC-6653I-2 Introduction to Educational Research
Instructor: Kathryn Arnold

I plan to determine if elementary students writing abilities and motivation would increase if they were allowed to use word processor instead of pencil and paper application?

Who: elementary students
What: use word processors
Why: have higher writing abilities and motivation

Bridging Learning Theory, Instruction, and Technology Reflection

Reflection: Week 8 ~
Instructor: Kathryn Arnold
EDUC-6711I-1 Bridging Learning Theory, Instruction, and Technology



My personal theory on how students learn is still very eclectic. It is based on a combination of many theories. I utilize a lot of teaching strategies from Jean Piaget and Howard Gardner. I believe each child has a unique learning style and I address the different styles by using the multiple intelligences approach. I am also aware that the quality of learning is based on a variety of elements: environmental factors, psychological factors and personal filters (Lever-Duffy & McDonald, 2008).

I use a Smartboard in my class and, next year, I will be adding Clickers. Clickers will give my students a fun way of assessing their knowledge. By using this technology my students will have instant feedback. Another benefit is the assessment will immediately identify students that grasp the concept and other students that need the concept re-addressed to them.
Another technology tool I want to incorporate into my classroom is Concept Maps. Students will be able to take an abstract topic and visually organize it. They can also use prior knowledge to connect different concepts.

This course has helped spark new ideas on how to engage my students. The first long-term goal I have is to create a Blog or Wiki site. My students will use this site to creatively inform other classes about the wonderful state we live in. I would like to cooperate with another school in a different state and have their students write about their state. I would like the students to communicate to each other about questions they may have regarding each other’s states. As a final project I think it would be exciting for the students to have a video conference via SKYPE.
I will clearly write out my goals and objectives for this project and present it to my principal. Once I am given approval I will contact other schools to see if anyone is interested in collaborating with my class. My students will create digital flyers that I can post on different educational blog sites regarding our project. Once I have connected with another teacher and state I will send a newsletter home to parents and let them know about the project.

My second goal isn’t as lofty as my first goal. I would like to teach my students how to create iMovies as a reflection portfolio of their learning in third grade. This would be a yearlong project that my students would present to their parents during the 3rd quarter student-led parent teacher conference. Along with iMovie my students would use Photo Booth to record their experiences. I believe this will motivate my students to have higher expectations. It will give them an opportunity to reflect on the growth they have made and share this with their parents.

At the beginning of the year I will provide my students with a rubric that will outline my expectations for this project. Each month the students will gather artifacts to include in their portfolio. They will either use the class camera or Photo Booth to capture their artifacts. The student will be given time during the computer lab or in class to work on this project.

I consider myself a life-long learner. I will continue to gain knowledge on the technological world around us throughout my Master’s program. Through my training I will gain new insights on integrating new and innovative technologies into my classroom. I believe it is possible to effectively teach the fundamental skills while creatively incorporating technology. By moving forward and changing the educational environment I believe all students will be excited about their learning as well as better prepared for their future.

References
Lever-Duffy, J. & McDonald, J. (2008). Theoretical Foundations (Laureate Education, Inc., custom ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.