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.