I would like to encourage you to visit my website that helps you to get to know me on a personal level as well as a professional level. I hope you enjoy your visit!
https://sites.google.com/site/susankschneider/
Developer’s Notebook for Ning.com Weather Module
CEP 820 Teaching K-12 Online
by Susan K. Schneider
April 23, 2010
My CMS Choice: Ning
Web Address: http://cep820schneider.ning.com/
Considerations for Choosing a Course Management System
On-line Class Development for:
Upon completion of this on-line unit using Ning.com, I would not recommend this type of CMS for a beginner. (As it turns out Ning will no longer be a “freeware” Social Networking website after May, 2010) Unless you understand all of the “ins and outs” of making changes to the appearance, the type of layout on the Main page that suits your needs, and how to sequence the items you put on the site. For example, I tried to put the class information on the right side bar under my picture. The amount of time that it took to locate the steps that would allow me to do this was greater than the amount of time I could afford spending on it. Therefore, I had to give up that idea and put the class information in the tabs that were listed at the top of the course.
Another difficulty with using Ning.com as the CMS was that you really needed to know HTML formatting to produce pages that were easy to read. For example, under the Assignment tab you will find that I created six modules. For each of these modules I started out typing the information into the given text box just as I would in a Word document. When I published it to the site however, all of the text would be bunched at the top of the page. That meant that I needed to find a remedy for this which I did find but again it required more time to fix. Eventually, I found someone who had the same problem in the Google Docs Help Forum and was able to fix it using HTML code. If you could have seen the excitement on my face as I raised my hands, with an amazed “Yes!”, you would really appreciate how difficult it was to find.
Uploading videos to this site was easy. The problem however, was that you couldn’t put them in any particular order because the choices were Latest, Most Popular, etc. This made it difficult for my sequencing of events because the students will have to go to the videos and look for the title. What I decided to do for this issue was to produce a screencast using Jing telling where to find the videos both using the tab and scrolling down the Main page. It showed how to locate the title of the video and where to click.
The same can be said for the Discussion Forum. It does not allow for you to hide the topics until they were needed (at least I could not figure out how to do that). This makes it rather confusing for the students when again the options were to list them from Latest, Most Popular, etc. How this looks on the website is actually backward from what you would like it to be. For example, the class ice breaker in the Discussion Forum was actually the very last Discussion in the list. When the students were asked to start there I can imagine them scratching their heads and saying (and sending several emails to me) that they could not find that particular discussion. Again, I created a screencast that demonstrated how to locate the forum that I was asking them to answer.
Using the Discussion Forum or the Blog for Answering Questions
It was during the screencasting of the Discussion Forum tutorial that I discovered that the instructor or creator of the site cannot view the posts before they are published. They are automatically posted and there is not a way to delete them. Therefore, if I were to design this class again using this same CMS I would instead use the Blog feature of this site. The Blog does allow for viewing before there is a posting.
1. What surprised you?
I was surprised that after looking over several CMS choices that I ended up rating Sakai as the best choice for me. Now for the reason I have decided NOT to use Sakai. Unfortunately the use of the CMS would require that it be downloaded onto a server that I would have access to. Under the advisement of my instructors I have been given the information as to how difficult it would be to do this primarily because it would require me to download a server and use it as well. The ability to use the server would be difficult as I’m not educated in this area and would have to do some “self” teaching before I even started using Sakai. Also, when the server was up and running, Sakai would also have to be downloaded to the computer and it is the experience of Leigh W. that it is a very difficult process. I believe that this would be a detriment to my success in this class because I really want to learn how to create an onlilne class not how to set up a CMS using a server. Therefore, having said that, I will be abandoning this choice for the aforementioned. As you will see below that after several considerations such as did I want to put a server on my personal computer in order to upload Sakai to it? In the end I decided that it was far to in-depth for a beginner and therefore, made the decision to change to a freeware site, Ning.com.
2. What didn’t surprise you?
I wasn’t surprised about the uses of the CMS because I’ve been using them for almost 7 years now.
3. Which CMS are you going to use for this course? why?
I have decided to use Ning as my CMS partially due to the ease with which I used it in a previous course under my master’s program umbrella. I found that it fulfilled all of the things that I would like to use within my on-line classroom and it was very simple to begin the process of setting up the shell. It is also freeware. I feel that it is an excellent way to assess what students are doing by using the blog postings. As far as delivering assignments and the ability to deliver lectures or having them connect to a website, etc. was also very manageable. Therefore, I believe that this CMS will serve its purpose well. this as my pilot.
4. Why is this CMS a good match for your course and curriculum?
This CMS is a good match for me because it has several features that will help to keep information in one area. For example, there is a place where you can go out onto the web and stream it into the site. I would be interested to see how well it worked with something like the Jason Project because as Greg stated in one our lessons, “I don’t need to re-invent the wheel if there is something out there that is already in place and does a better job that I can.” After visiting the site and testing the Management of the site, I soon found that it was more complicated that I had expected. Changing the appearance to only have tabs that were applicable to the online course was not possible. The Tabs, My Page, Invitation, and Members were not optional Tabs, they were mandatory. This made it more confusing than necessary had I used a CMS such as Moodle or Blackboard. These are just a few things to take into consideration when choosing a CMS as your primary delivery system to students, especially students of this age.
5. What additional tools/functionality might you need beyond the features available in the CMS you have chosen?
At this time I am not aware of anything that I would need to add to the CMS. As noted above there were several functions/tools that were difficult to use with Ning.com
6. What support do you need to be successful with this endeavor?
I believe that in order to be successful in this endeavor I will need lots and lots of patience, support, and understanding from myself and my instructors.Ti is imperative that I know how to locate information on the Internet, using the Google Search Engine in order to locate information that will help me to change the appearance of the site, the types of assignments that will be used, how to embed documents and powerpoints, and to embed videos into the course.
Assignment
Who, What, When, Where, and Why Screencast
After thoughtful consideration, I decided to make this a hybrid class.
Learning outcomes for unit:
State of Michigan, Department of Education, Grade Level Content Exptectations (GLCEs)
E.ES.07.71 The learner will be able to compare and contrast the difference and relationship between climate and weather.
E.ES.07.72 The learner will be able to describe how different weather occurs due to the constant motion of the atmosphere from the energy of the sun reaching the surface of the Earth.
Having taught several middle school earth science classes, I have found that this age group needs to be given enough of a challenge to keep them engaged and on task. If the assignments and requirements to fulfill them are created within the students’ zone of optimal development they are willing to follow the examples of the Instructor and tend to want to try to create the required outcome using as little help as possible. By scaffolding with this age group they begin to build on their self-efficacy and actually take more ownership in the process and projects. Also, they love giving their opinion. I incorporated an argument for or against assignment so that they could express their feelings about Global Warming. While they want to believe that they are mature enough to take the assignment and complete them without the advice of the Instructor, I have found that unless they work above grade level, they tend to have to be given constructive feedback at the time they are doing this type of activity.
Somethings to keep in mind: Most of the time that I worked in my classroom I always incorporated some type of online learning experience. This was always a success if I could keep them interested. If I had more time to develop this unit I would would spend a few days teaching the students how to use Flip cameras and how to edit using their software. Other ideas might be using Windows Movie Maker or Audacity to produce storybooks and podcasts. I would use the storybook as an assessment midway through the course as an individual formative assessment and a podcast for their argument for or against Global Warming.
After working on setting up Ning, it is time to upload the students who will be using this online piece of the hybrid course. The Modules that I have put together are to teach students the difference between weather and climate and how they relate to each other. In the face-to-face classes I had planned on also utilizing hands-on experiences as well as presenting information in a didactic manner. Therefore, this piece of the unit is only part of the learning process for the students. Classroom lesson plans will also be necessary.
How I Designed the Unit Modules Using Ning
Things That Need to be Addressed in the Classroom Before Using the Website
If your students are not familiar with locating credible sources for information on the Internet, this is something that your students will need to be taught before using this module. That being said, you will have to spend some time teaching students how to find credible resources and how to cite them. In the case of this course, it is assumed that the students have learned about citation of credible websites.
Methods of Assessment
Formative – Answering questions in the Discussion Forum, submission of findings when using material that will be generated away from the computer (Ex., homemade barometer readings- high or low for one day to field possible difficulties with assignment), pictures of specific pieces of examples, responses to peer posts in the Discussion Forum.
Summative – Power Point presentations and Synthesis papers.
Course Communication Policy:
Student/Teacher Communication via email on website (if confidential questions) or after class in the face-to-face setting.
Student/Student will have access to the email option on Ning but I will instruct them to cc: me with their communications.
Student/Parent students may be required to have a parent review the students participation on-line and a parent/guardian can email me with confirmation that they have viewed the student’s participation and their feelings/concerns regarding them. Parents may contact me by a telephone call to the school or an email to the appropriate email address (most likely the school address).
These are only examples of possible grading rubrics for this class. There are many possibilities for grading using a rubic but these are the two that I felt were demonstrations of participation and a good check for understanding.
Forum Discussion Rubric
Graphic Organizer Rubric
I believe that in the classroom setting I often found that many of the students who had low self-efficacy would rarely, if ever, offer their comments on a subject. In fact, more often than not, these students would remain silent and often go unnoticed, making it difficult to gauge their understanding of the topic we were discussing or learning. Therefore, I wanted to address student understanding using their responses to questions posted in the forum, students responding to other students, and supplying examples to show their understanding as well.
I have also decided to include a Graphic Organizer rubric because I would be using a Graphic Organizer to help students to organize their thoughts and information that they learn about when I have sent them to a website, etc. I think that this would not only motivate students to go to the assigned website, but it would also help the students to retain some of the information because they would be, in this case, filling it in either online or they would be able to print it off and write in the information and then hand it in during the face-to-face class time. Also, I wanted this information to be used in a later assignment, whether it be a post to the forum or writing a synthesis paper, etc.
The forum seemed like the most obvious place to focus on because it would provide tangible evidence as to whether the students were understanding the information they were required to read or view. I think that the Forum offers also a way for other students to see that maybe they do have a good understanding of the topic rather than perpetuating low self-efficacy. The way the rubric is developed , it will hold them accountable but it gives some room as far as rigidity when giving their opinion as well as stating their case when they answer questions.
When students know what is expected of them as far as learning about the content, I believe that it reduces some of the anxiety that can be produced by the “unknown”. All to often I don’t think that I give them clear directions as to what I am looking for in their understanding. I want them to see what is the point of the lesson rather than filling out a form to show that they did something or answering a question with any response. If they don’t put forth much effort to explain their understanding, I can’t assist in helping them to improve how they use the information provided to the best of their ability. Gradually I would hope that the students see that it doesn’t have to be painful to learn new information. Also by letting them use digital graphic organizers they may see it as something that is not as agonizing as when they worked on them in a classroom with paper and pencil (although it will remain an option for those who aren’t yet comfortable with this process).
The students will be involved in this assessment and evaluation process by continual feedback with room for growth. They will be able to argue their point if they believe that they have been unfairly graded or if they don’t understand something they can clearly state that in their forum discussion post. This will help me to assess the whole class as well because if the concept was difficult for one to understand perhaps the rest of the class may feel the same but unable to state that without possibly being penalized for it. I think that I should state that in my introduction video as well, that I do make mistakes and sometimes I may not explain something in a way that they understand and not to hesitate contacting me for clearly. I could then perhaps post a new way of delivery which will help the students understand better. In hindsight I would include a self-evaluation at the end of the course.
My standards will be communicated in the syllabus as well as when I am giving the students an assignment. I will clearly state what is expected when I give the assignment. For example, if I am asking them to answer a question that I have posted to the discussion forum, I will state that they may not answer the question with a “yes, I agree or no, I don’t agree” unless it clearly states that they are to answer with a yes or no (hopefully I’ll remember not to post a “yes or now” question) or that I expect them to post their response to the forum, answering whatever is asked or assigned by me.
The two factors that I will use to assess myself are 1) I would like to assess if I am actually supplying the students with what they need to reach the teaching objective or if I am off target. For example, with this unit I want the students to be able to explain the difference between weather and climate but I also want them to be able to tell me how they are related to each other. Will the activities that I provide help the students “learn” about these two things or will they just be another “go to the Internet, Google weather and climate, copy it down on the graphic organizer by either cutting and pasting or writing, then hand it in. How will I make the activities pertain to the learning objective using the Internet in a way that I could not use it in the classroom? 2) Did I provide enough explanations for the activity in regards to the expectations? Did I make sense when I explained how to do something I was asking the students to do? So I guess I’m basically asking “Did I guide the students in learning anything,” or “Ddid I just perpetuate the same mundane educational delivery that can be done in the classroom without the use of the Internet?”
When I completed this course I was astonished at how much work putting together an online course could be. I believe that if I had more knowledge about using other CMSs that I could refine this unit. If it had not been for more experienced educators, I have no doubt that it would not be as functional as this site is. Use people who have knowledge on how to utilize features on your CMS so that you don’t waste any more time than you have to. Being a teaching in the classroom does not leave a lot of time to create this type of course as it takes hours to build.
The reason that I chose to do weather had a great deal to do with my passionate love of watching and learning about weather. I believe that if you are passionate about something it will show in your enthusiasm while teaching the course and also the desire to make it interesting and applicable to the real world.
This experience has been very, very valuable to me. I want to learn to build other units for myself and fellow colleagues. I loved mining for ideas, information, and ways to incorporate the Internet into a classroom. In the future I would like to create an online class that is strictly an online class.
Please feel free to “borrow” from this online course site.
Ø What are some things that you have learned about effective teaching strategies when integrating technology?
I have learned that it is not always the technology that is the benefit, it is the knowledge of the usefulness of the technology and how it will best suit your needs in the classroom. I think that sometimes I find the technology and then ask myself, “What can I use this for?”
I’ve learned a lot about the process that students use to make their experience something that will make sense, teach them more, and help them to understand a concept. Probably the most important part is that I need to stay on the side as a guide or a sage on the stage. I have a tendency to want to “help” a little too much at times and I should allow students to make mistakes so that they can learn. That seems to be the best way for me to learn how to use something I’m not accustomed to.
Ø How did integrating web-based technologies help you think about and evaluate uses of technology
Before I did my TechQuest I did know a thing about Interactive Whiteboards or Student Response Systems. I know now that an evaluation requires a lot of research to support your evaluation. I was given the opportunity to do a web conference with one of the vendors of Student Response Systems and found it very useful and time efficient. Also, when you are looking for educational technology to solve a problem of practice, you should look down several different avenues instead of just one. I would not have ever thought that Student Response Systems could solve my problem of practice until I saw it in action.
Ø How have you met your own personal goals for learning about technology integration?
I have always had an strong interest in learning about technology. My goal when I started the certification program was to be able to use Microsoft Office more effectively in my teaching. I never dreamt that I would be able to build StAIR projects let alone build my own web quest. I have taken what I have learned from my classes at Michigan State University and helped not only the students but also the staff to learn new and effective ways to use technology in the classroom so that the students’ interest continues to be fed.
Ø Do you have any new goals? What are your plans for reaching your new goals and your long-term goals after this course is over?
I would like to “remodel” my web page. In order for me to do that I need to be more fluent with Dreamweaver CS3, therefore, I will be reading about the processes and implementation of CSS and how to make a web page look precisely how you want it to rather than just throwing it together. I would also like to be able to use Interactive technology in my classroom someday. In order to do that however, I believe that I will have to write a grant. That would require me to learn how to write a grant. As for long-term goals, I would like to graduate from Michigan State University with a Masters in Educational Technology and return the favor by helping to teach others what I have learned through my experiences as a student, a teacher, and a professional.
How would you approach another project of this type differently given what you’ve learned here?
If I were going to approach a project like this next time I would set down with colleagues and ask them to come to my classroom and watch me teaching. I would want their observations so that I could identify what need would most likely be the first step in getting my students engaged and on task rather than look at two different pieces at the same time. I would also take more time to look at several different brands of the same product and set up times where I could meet with the sales person and talk. I would like to hear more about the most popular products to see why they were known as the most popular rather than just taking it for granted that it was the best or most popular because they could make it look fancier at the Tech Conference.
What are the lessons learned that others might benefit from knowing about?
The only lesson that I learned that others might benefit from is that if you are going to try and tackle a project start small and work your way up. I was going to try and write a grant for the technology but at the last minute circumstances would not allow me to pursue that avenue. I think that might have been a blessing in disguise as I have never written a grant before!
In what ways will you endeavor to do the same project again, and what will you change or not do?
I would do pretty much the same thing as far as choosing the technology to pursue. What I would like to do is learn how to write a grant so that I know what kinds of information will be the most helpful to me when it comes time to write it.
Internet Research for TechQuest
ēno Board by PolyVision Research
I began my research on the Internet by typing in the word “eno” board to see if there was any information specifically on the ēno Board by PolyVision. What I received on my Google search engine page was a great deal on a person named “Brian Eno” and absolutely nothing on the board itself. I decided next to try visiting PolyVision’s website but was disappointed when they would only send me information which meant that I had to leave contact information, etc. and I really didn’t want to do that yet. Finally I Googled Interactive White Boards and on one website got a blurb and description about the ēno board.
I decided to switch to a different search engine, Answers.com and found a forum page called “The Interactive White Board Revolution, A place for conversations that promote effective teaching with IWBs” http://iwbrevolution.ning.com/forum/topics/robert-marzano-and-interactive
which is part of the website by the same name. I found a wealth of opinion and experience on this website.
One person wrote: “We are currently incredibly busy showing the new Eno interactive whiteboard from Polyvision, which we also exhibited at CUE. The reponse by all educators is incredible. First of all teachers love this board because it is just a whiteboard and tackboard first and an interactive board second. This means the board is place in the place of the traditional board and the teacher can use it with a regular dry marker, permanent marks and for example stick document on the board with a magnet. this means the teacher can use the board from the second it is installed. Once the teacher is familiar with the way the boards works interactively, this takes about 10 minutes, he or she can use the board with the software the teacher is familiar with. I think this is key to any technology in the classroom: Every piece of equipment and software must have an extremely short learning curve.” Which sounded rather passionate!
One person that I have heard over and over is Dr. Robert Marzano. http://www.marzanoresearch.com/site/ He is a leading authority on use of the interactive white board in the classroom to increase student achievement. Some of his research showed gains in AYP through the use of the IWBs. He doesn’t however believe that it is solely by the IWBs that students learn, rather he believes that the teacher must be solid on his/her pedagogical practice and that if the teacher is weak so will the use of the IWB. There was data that was presented on this website but I couldn’t interpret it because I don’t understand some of the terms and procedures that they followed, it was a bit above my head! Whatever the case, Dr. Robert Marzano is thought of very highly within the educational community, especially those who are using IWBs.
http://www.thejournal.com/articles/23920_2 The Journal; Transforming Education through Technology talks about the Next-Gen Interactive Whiteboards and the top companies mentioned were Smart, PolyVision, and Promethean. A comment under the PolyVision section stated “teachers can use web browsers without having to download special software, and can toggle between other applications and the web while using the marker, magnets, and stylus.”
www.classroom20.com/xn/detail/649749:Comment:285203 from the website Classroom 2.0, offers comments from educators who are using IWBs and how they feel about particular brand names. In this case they compare IWBs with Wireless Slates. One of the issues that is brought up about the wireless slates are that they can be difficult to use because of the hand-to-eye coordination that is required, something that many of them said could be mastered with practice.
Qwizdom Research
http://www.fluenteducation.co.uk/files/Qwizdom/Qwizdom_Assessment_for_learning.pdf
This PDF file presents some data on the use of the Qwizdom Student Response Systems and how easily it can be used with a variety of learners.
http://scholarsmine.mst.edu/post_prints/pdf/01668284_09007dcc8030daac.pdf
Use of a Classroom Response System to Enhance Classroom Interactivity written by Keng Siau, Hong Sheng, and Fiona Fui-Hoon Nah
An article that states that “…Classroom interactivity is a critical component of teaching and learning… The success of the project was assessed using both quantitative and qualitative data. A pretest/posttest design was used to examine the effects of a classroom response system on interactivity. The results show that a classroom response system can significantly improve classroom interactivity. Qualitative data was also collected to identify the strengths and weaknesses of using a classroom response system to enhance classroom interaction…
On April 21, 2009 at 3:15 p.m. I will hold a web conference with Joshua Zamiska where he will demonstrate the use all the different types of Qwizdom handheld pieces as well as the teacher resources/handheld.
After researching these two pieces of technology I have learned that they can enhance a student’s experience within the classroom given that the teacher is a trained professional. The ēno Board impresses me because I have seen it in person but I have also read testimonials from people across the United States that like what this board has to offer. As with anything, there will always be naysayers and this case isn’t and exception. I do think that it would be a good idea to get some information from the PolyVision people on costs such as replacement of the stylus in case it is destroyed, damaged, or lost so that it would be another piece of information that could help with writing a grant for this piece of equipment.
I look forward to my web conference with Joshua on April 21st to see first hand the different things that can be done with the Qwizdom Student Response System.
podcast-cep812-take-3Interactive White Boards and Student Response Systems
Recently I attended the Michigan Association of Computers Users in Learning conference held in Detroit, Michigan, March 18-20, 2009. While at the conference I visited several vendor booths looking at the new technology that was being introduced as well as the technology that had been on the market for a while. Some of these technologies included Smart Technologies who markets the SmartBoard and its software, Qwizdom which was a Student Response System, a mimio system which turns a white board into an interactive white board, an ELMO document camera for projection onto a screen, and EduTek Interactive Learning Tools.
As I watched the demonstrations I always asked the question, “Would this help me to teach my students to write? Would it be the best piece of technology to accomplish this? Would it keep my students engaged while learning to write? And finally, the biggest question of all, “Would it help my students to improve their writing scores on the M.E.A.P.?” With all of the new technologies and upgrades to the old technology this meant that I had a lot of work to do ahead of me so I started looking visiting the vendors, asking for demonstrations.
It was suggested that I visit the booth for the PolyVision Corporation. I watched a demonstration of an ēno board and it definitely held my attention. The young man who was doing the demonstration began by showing me that the board was very durable. He hit it with a hammer, lit a lighter and attempted to burn it, and wrote on it in permanent marker (which came off with the use of an ordinary cleaning solution). He then demonstrated that the board came with a magnetic strip that could be placed anywhere on the board as well as hand held to travel around the room.
The piece of technology that made this board work was its pen. He showed me the features that were brought forth when you used the pen and the magnetic strip. For example, he projected a word document onto the board and with the pen he simply touched the pen to the magnetic strip to change the color of the pen, which would be handy to highlight specific areas of a sentence such as an adjective. Software does accompany this board that has several features that make the board very interactive, such as being able to put a picture on the board and have students write a sentence using the picture. Students would be able to come to the board and move pieces of a sentence around to see if it makes sense or if it could use more revision. Needless to say, I was impressed with just these basic functions.
The ēno board does require a laptop or desktop computer that will be connected to a mounted projector. It is through the projector that the software or even pictures of anything can be displayed and then with the use of the magnetic strip you are able to start dissecting the picture so that you could demonstrated parts of an insect, etc. I still need to meet with the demonstration people because they do not pass out paper copies of information. They are a “green” company, trying to save trees by using electronic email and Webinars. One factor that does matter to me is that they offer free training on the use of this technology to one teacher or to the whole school, which sometimes can cost several thousand dollars.
The PolyVision booth also recommended looking at a product called Qwizdom, a student response system that helps keep students engaged and participating by asking for their feedback to questions. I ventured over to the Qwizdom booth and was given another demonstration. These are devises that the students use to “click” on a response to a question. Why this is an important tool is that it gives immediate feedback to the students as to what the correct answer was, how many people got the answer right, and who needs to have some assistance. All of this is done anonymously. Only the teacher knows who is struggling with the content or understanding of the concept. This would be important for my students because they lack the self-confidence and efficacy needed to participate in polls such as these. They are forever raising their hands for both answers to the same question because they don’t want to be wrong yet they don’t know what the right answer is either. This would be a means of formative and summative assessment.
In conclusion, these are the two pieces of technology that I would like to further research. Once I have all of my information I will start looking at various grants that can be obtained in order to purchase this technology for my classroom. I look forward to the continuation of this project and am excited just by the thought of possibly getting this technology for my classroom.
I work in an educational setting that has several factors that make successful learning difficult both in the classroom and the building. It’s called an inter-city charter school that has 87% free and reduced lunches, many students come from single parent homes, most of our population is at risk in reading, writing, and math.
Most students have not eaten breakfast unless they arrived to the school 15-30 minutes before the school day begins, and many are consistently tardy to school. The students are required to wear uniforms which are defined by the following:
1. plain polo shirts or shirts with colors
2. black, tan or navy blue slacks/skorts for girls
3. black or tan shoes (no tennis shoes, especially white)
4. a belt
5. plain, no hooded sweaters.
Many of my students arrive in soiled clothing and will wear the same outfit for the entire week before it is washed. Some of my students require glasses and have to wait until their parent(s) can save enough to have the prescription filled.
Most all of my students do not have access to a computer in their home and if there is a computer it is more likely than not to be disconnected from the Internet. On the other hand, almost all of my students have a cell phone that they bring to school with them daily. Per building policy they have to be turned off and in a locked locker to be in the building. If caught using or having the phone out they are confiscated until after school. They are given one free “get your phone out of jail” and after that a parent must come into the school and get the phone or it will remain in the school vault until an adult picks it up. Some of the students have PS3s and Nintendo DS but they are rare. MP3 players are brought to school and kept in lockers. Many are stolen so the students tend to keep them on their person for the school day and will “sneak” using them when the opportunity presents itself.
My educational setting is in a building that is dilapidated. There is a leak in the entryway ceiling, the heating in the elementary wing (where the computer lab is located) often is unheated and remains at 52 degrees for the day. In the middle school the heat is just the opposite, it can be 90 degrees in one room, and 68 degrees in another and it is not able to be adjusted so that the temperature is homogenous in all rooms.
All of this takes place on the corner of a busy intersection, surrounded by several public schools. Most of our students are referred to our school by word of mouth. We accept everyone that has applied to our school which includes students who were suspended or expelled from the other public or charter schools in the area. A majority of our students (28%) are special needs students; often referred to our school because we have all-inclusive classrooms and they remain in a classroom with their peers for the entire day. Due to the diversity in the students in my classroom, I am teaching several different levels of math, writing, and reading while attempting to teach social studies and science when possible.
I also teach a split class. I have eight fifth graders and fourteen sixth graders. Of these twenty two students I have two cognitively impaired, two students with ADHD, one ESL student, and two Learning Disabled. If I add the students who are referred to the Child Study team I will add three behaviorally challenged students. I have an LREA for three days, forty minutes each day to work with the CI students. The rest of the students were my responsibility until I recently (one week ago) was able to hire a paraprofessional.
Due to these factors, most of my day is spent dealing with behavior issues. I am unable to deliver lessons to the class as a whole and when I attempt to teach to one group while I’ve given the other group an assignment, most of the second group remain off-task and will require my attention before too long. I need to find a way to keep all of the students engaged while working with certain students so that they are continuing to learn. I believe that several of the behavior problems can be prevented if I can find a way that piques curiosity and requires participation throughout the entire day.
I would like to research different technology that could be used in the classroom to keep students engaged in their learning. Another need that I would like to address is technology that may be useful to my special needs students so that they would feel successful in their experience. Finally, I would like to also find a way for me to reach the entire class through an interactive technology. Once I have identified the most useful and appropriate pieces of technology I would like to write grants to obtain them.
After a short detour I’m finally back to where I belong. Involved in Educational Technology. I can’t wait to work toward completing this class, I’m sure it will help me answer many questions and concerns that I have been experiencing over the past six months. Here’s to a good start!
The new technology out there sounds great but in reality my school doesn’t have the ability to get them financially.There are several though that I would love to use with my students. However, I’m going to focus on the Educational Gaming experience.
As we have been learning, many of my students, not all, but many have access to the computer and Internet everyday and very capable of getting anywhere they want. It’s very difficult to get them to want to learn anything that doesn’t have some type of educational technology involved. Unfortunately for me, I didn’t know how to access the Online Gaming sites or I would have been there months ago. They love taking the risks involved in playing games as well as competing with each other. It may sound surprising but that is not typical of my students. Many are lethargic when it comes to completing work for “good grades”. It’s almost as if they have given up on the idea that school could be a place of great experiences.
I can especially see my 8th graders in History playing strategic games where they must have prior knowledge of the experiences necessary to plan any type of movement or writing of documents. If I were to allow them to use this type of learning experience I can also imagine them holding discussions with each other about their “level” or how they solved a problem to move to the next area. I think it would also give them a good idea of how difficult it probably was for our forefathers to forge the trail for all of us to have the freedoms that we do today. Many of them haven’t a clue as to how that connects to their lives.
I would probably utilize a facilitator role and allow the students to explore and experience the game using each other for collaboration rather than asking me questions. I believe it would be difficult for them because they can tend to be “lazy” about getting information, but if they had a goal of reaching the end first…watch out! So I believe this would be a great way to scaffold a lesson. If I were to get them started I believe that they could fly right by me.
I believe that the most difficult pieces for my students to be able to utilize would be both of the adults and student on-line conferencing. I think it would be intimidating to them. Many of my students have been told that they really don’t know anything and unfortunately they believe it. So to talk to another adult or a student from a different school would be more difficult than helpful right now. I would hope that it would change as they begin to build efficacy.
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