As a technology educator I am very familiar with the NETS and how they were created. I am a member of ITEA (International Technology Education Association) and I have been using the standards in my classroom for quite sometime. Even though I am a technology educator, there are a couple of performance indicators that I would like to work on in my instruction. The third standard, Model Digital-Age Work and Learning, contains two performance indicators that I would like to develop more. Below is my GAME plan for those two performance indicators.
Performance indicator
3a. Demonstrate fluency in technology systems and the transfer of current knowledge to new technologies and situations.
Set Goals: I would like to become more fluent in different technology systems, meaning, I would like to understand more different types of programs that will help me as the teacher to teach my students new and interesting ways to use technology. I would like to feel more confident when using these new systems, so that I can transfer my knowledge to my students with confidence.
Take Action: Steps that I can take in order to become more fluent in different technology systems, is to take more professional development classes that teach new technology programs. I can also learn more from our building IT who offers classes on new programs for teachers in our building.
Monitor: I will be able to monitor myself when taking these courses by knowing I have learned new programs and I feel comfortable using the new programs. When I feel that I have become fluent in a new system I will be able to introduce the new program to my studnets and have the confidence to teach them.
Evaluate and Extend: To evaluate myself I will be able to discuss with my fellow cohorts the uses of the new technology programs and see if the knowledge that I have gained match what they know. If they are able to explain new uses, I will need to go back and review the programs so that I am fluent in that technology.
Performance indicator
3b. Collaborate with students, peers, parents, and community members using digital tools and resources to support student success and innovation.
Set Goals: I would like to spend more time using digital resources to support my students success and their innovations. Meaning, I would like to showcase work completed by my students using various different types of digital tools. I would like to create a website for my classroom that explains a little about myself, my classroom, and projects that my studnets complete. This website would be open for everyone to see.
Take Action: I will need to set up time with my IT to teach me how to create my own website. I will also contact some of my fellow cohorts who have already created websites for their classrooms.
Monitor: In order to monitor my progress I will first set aside specific dates on my email calender to keep me on schedule. Scheduling dates to follow will help me stay focused and on track.
Evaluate and Extend: Once I have completed my website I would like to be able to communicate with students, peers, parents, and the community within my site. I think the studnets will be very excited to see what other people think about their projects that they have created. I really hope that the creation of my own website will foster my communication between me and the parents of my students.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Reflection for Course EDUC 6712
I think using the word revelation is a little strong to use, so instead, I choose exposure. During this course, Supporting Information Literacy and Online Inquiry in the Classroom, I was exposed to a new way for students to researching on the Internet, and when finding sources to use, how to correctly identify whether those sources were real or not. I was also exposed to how important it is for our students to credit their resources appropriately. If I were to choose which topic was the most striking “revelation” for me, I would have to choose crediting resources. I found this part of the course to be very eye opening for me. It is extremely important for our students to know the significance of why we credit our resources. Students are required to gather information for projects, and anything they learn from these sources should be credited so that other students as well as teachers understand where the information comes from.
The knowledge and experience gained in this course will influence my teaching practices by allowing me as the teacher to teach my students how to become better researchers. I thought I knew how to research the Internet, but little did I know the whole world behind the World Wide Web. By imparting my knowledge of researching on the internet I only hope that my students become more comfortable and more confident when having to research for any class that requires it. Once they locate resources that they can use, they will then be able to determine the validity of those sources to use in whatever application or project they have to complete. If my experience can teach my students the importance of giving credit to all of the appropriate sources that they find, then I know I have passed on what I learned while taking this class.
As a technology education teacher, I am always looking for professional development classes or workshops to attend. Because of funding, I am required to pay for conferences if I choose to go to them, or wait for my turn on the rotation to go to my National ITEA conference. As a part of our district, we have a Professional Development Committee that offers workshops and classes for professional development. Within the last 5 years we have added numerous technology classes for staff to take in order to improve their technology skills. What I would like to do is to talk to the librarian at my school, who is part of the PDC committee, along with myself, and see if we can offer a workshop that deals with teaching our students the importance of crediting their sources when they find valid ones. I think that if we can get the school on board with learning the importances of ethical usage, then our students can watch us model the appropriate manners and in turn do the right thing. The importance of crediting our sources is clearly stated in our course DVD where Dr. Sara Armstrong explains the reasons for crediting sources, “not doing so can result in negative consequences, shows how the work of others influenced your own thoughts, and how crediting sources shows signs of professionalism” (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009). So my focus is to not just build upon what I have learned, but rather introduce what I have learned to my fellow cohorts.
References
Laureate Education, Inc. (2009). Safe and Ethical Practices; Supporting
Information Literacy and Online Inquiry in the Classroom.
The knowledge and experience gained in this course will influence my teaching practices by allowing me as the teacher to teach my students how to become better researchers. I thought I knew how to research the Internet, but little did I know the whole world behind the World Wide Web. By imparting my knowledge of researching on the internet I only hope that my students become more comfortable and more confident when having to research for any class that requires it. Once they locate resources that they can use, they will then be able to determine the validity of those sources to use in whatever application or project they have to complete. If my experience can teach my students the importance of giving credit to all of the appropriate sources that they find, then I know I have passed on what I learned while taking this class.
As a technology education teacher, I am always looking for professional development classes or workshops to attend. Because of funding, I am required to pay for conferences if I choose to go to them, or wait for my turn on the rotation to go to my National ITEA conference. As a part of our district, we have a Professional Development Committee that offers workshops and classes for professional development. Within the last 5 years we have added numerous technology classes for staff to take in order to improve their technology skills. What I would like to do is to talk to the librarian at my school, who is part of the PDC committee, along with myself, and see if we can offer a workshop that deals with teaching our students the importance of crediting their sources when they find valid ones. I think that if we can get the school on board with learning the importances of ethical usage, then our students can watch us model the appropriate manners and in turn do the right thing. The importance of crediting our sources is clearly stated in our course DVD where Dr. Sara Armstrong explains the reasons for crediting sources, “not doing so can result in negative consequences, shows how the work of others influenced your own thoughts, and how crediting sources shows signs of professionalism” (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009). So my focus is to not just build upon what I have learned, but rather introduce what I have learned to my fellow cohorts.
References
Laureate Education, Inc. (2009). Safe and Ethical Practices; Supporting
Information Literacy and Online Inquiry in the Classroom.
Friday, April 16, 2010
Evaluating Research Methods
After studying the different types of research methods, which included qualitative, quantitative, mixed methods, action research, and secondary data analysis, the next step was to provide the correct research method for a given scenario.
The first scenario is the following: 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. I feel that the type of research that needs to be used for this scenario is Qualitative. My reason behind my answer is because the researcher will be conducting in-depth interviews with participants of a program. I chose qualitative because in this type of research the “data are in the form of words rather than numbers” (McMillan & Schumacher, 2006, p.26). So because of the in-depth interviews, the research will be word based and not number based.
The second scenario is the following: 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. I feel that the type of research that needs to be used for this scenario is Quasi-Experimental. I chose this type of research because here some of the students are going to be subjected to the experiment and the others will be the control group (McMillan & Schumacher, 2006). As the book explained further, the researcher has created his / her control group to study, once the numbers come out, then the researcher will analyze the before mentioned group.
The third scenario is the following: 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. I feel that the type of research that needs to be used is the Ex Post Facto design. I chose this method because, “rather than manipulate what will happen to subjects, as in experimental deigns, the research focuses on what has happened differently for comparable groups of subjects, then explores whether the subjects in each group are different in some way” (McMillan & Schumacher, 2006, p.25). This was a difficult method to choose. I finally went with this one because our explained that the subjects would not be manipulated and I felt that the school counselor was only looking at the attitudes associated with peer mediation.
The fourth scenario is the following: 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. I feel that the type of research that needs to be used for this scenario is the Explanatory method. I chose this method because, “quantitative data are collected first and, depending on the results, qualitative data are gathered second” (McMillan & Schumacher, 2006, p.28). The Explanatory method clearly states that the research uses the quantitative method first and then follow up with qualitative. Numbers before words, the survey is first followed up by interviews.
The methods I chose for the scenarios are not set in stone, I chose those methods based on the information I found either in our class text or from our DVD. I am sure that different methods can be substituted for these scenarios to get the same results, and I welcome any and all comments to help enlighten me. I will tell you that scenario number 3 stumped me, so I definitely need your help on that one.
McMillan, J. H., & Schumacher, S. (2008). Research in education: Evidence-based inquiry (Laureate custom edition). Boston: Pearson.
The first scenario is the following: 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. I feel that the type of research that needs to be used for this scenario is Qualitative. My reason behind my answer is because the researcher will be conducting in-depth interviews with participants of a program. I chose qualitative because in this type of research the “data are in the form of words rather than numbers” (McMillan & Schumacher, 2006, p.26). So because of the in-depth interviews, the research will be word based and not number based.
The second scenario is the following: 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. I feel that the type of research that needs to be used for this scenario is Quasi-Experimental. I chose this type of research because here some of the students are going to be subjected to the experiment and the others will be the control group (McMillan & Schumacher, 2006). As the book explained further, the researcher has created his / her control group to study, once the numbers come out, then the researcher will analyze the before mentioned group.
The third scenario is the following: 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. I feel that the type of research that needs to be used is the Ex Post Facto design. I chose this method because, “rather than manipulate what will happen to subjects, as in experimental deigns, the research focuses on what has happened differently for comparable groups of subjects, then explores whether the subjects in each group are different in some way” (McMillan & Schumacher, 2006, p.25). This was a difficult method to choose. I finally went with this one because our explained that the subjects would not be manipulated and I felt that the school counselor was only looking at the attitudes associated with peer mediation.
The fourth scenario is the following: 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. I feel that the type of research that needs to be used for this scenario is the Explanatory method. I chose this method because, “quantitative data are collected first and, depending on the results, qualitative data are gathered second” (McMillan & Schumacher, 2006, p.28). The Explanatory method clearly states that the research uses the quantitative method first and then follow up with qualitative. Numbers before words, the survey is first followed up by interviews.
The methods I chose for the scenarios are not set in stone, I chose those methods based on the information I found either in our class text or from our DVD. I am sure that different methods can be substituted for these scenarios to get the same results, and I welcome any and all comments to help enlighten me. I will tell you that scenario number 3 stumped me, so I definitely need your help on that one.
McMillan, J. H., & Schumacher, S. (2008). Research in education: Evidence-based inquiry (Laureate custom edition). Boston: Pearson.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Problem / Purpose Statement
Please forgive me for the late post. We just started Spring break and spent 10 hours in the car driving to Destin, FL. Any comments are greatly appreciated!
Problem / Purpose Statement:
I plan to determine the correlation between cell phone use and course curricular assessments with 7th grade middle school students.
Who: 7th grade middle school students
What: Cell phone use
Why: Coorelation between course curricular assesments and cell phone use.
Problem / Purpose Statement:
I plan to determine the correlation between cell phone use and course curricular assessments with 7th grade middle school students.
Who: 7th grade middle school students
What: Cell phone use
Why: Coorelation between course curricular assesments and cell phone use.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Reflection for class EDUC 6711
Upon my reflection of my personal theory of learning, I have come to the conclusion that on completion of this course, Bridging Learning Theory, Instruction, and Technology, I have not made any modifications of my personal theory of learning. The learning process implemented within my classroom is demonstration and explanation followed by student practice and fabrication. This type of learning theory compliments the styles of each of my students. Whether they are a visual, aural, reading / writing, or kinesthetic / tactile learner, every one of my students is able to walk away with new knowledge. If I have learned anything from this course, I have become more aware of the different types of learners in my classroom.
Immediate adjustments that I have made in my classroom instruction are two new technology tools that I am using with my 8th grade Woodworking class. During week 3 we learned about Virtual field trips that would allow our students to leave the classroom without really leaving the classroom. I was able to find a virtual fieldtrip that takes place at a sawmill. Before the virtual fieldtrip I would have the students look at the textbook as I described the process that a tree goes through in order to become a piece of usable lumber. Now I can literally take my students there, and they can watch the whole process from start to finish. The other technology that I have implemented, is the VoiceThread, I use this in both my 7th grade and 8th grade classes. With this tool I have the students post a picture of their completed projects and explain the process they went through in order to complete the project. They get feedback from their classmates as well as me. The principle has even chimed in on a few threads. They really enjoy this new tool.
I don’t know if I have two long term goal changes that I would like to make to my instructional practice regarding technology integration, but I definitely have one. I would like to implement more technology into my 6th grade Industrial exploration class. The main problem to overcome is the time limit. This class is a six week long class, and the curriculum would have to be revamped. In order to do that, I would have to meet with the other Industrial Technology teacher at the other middle school, and then we would have to go in front of the school board in order to get our curriculum changed. However, I feel that it would be worth the time and effort to implement a change to my sixth grade curriculum. This will be a long process that I would like to start at the end of this school year and have the summer to make the necessary changes. I would like to implement a sixth grade technology exploration class where the students would be able to come into my Hi-tech classroom and experience the 12 different modules we have. This would give them the opportunity to start thinking about different career paths that they might be interested in. Right now this class is set up for 8th graders only.
Immediate adjustments that I have made in my classroom instruction are two new technology tools that I am using with my 8th grade Woodworking class. During week 3 we learned about Virtual field trips that would allow our students to leave the classroom without really leaving the classroom. I was able to find a virtual fieldtrip that takes place at a sawmill. Before the virtual fieldtrip I would have the students look at the textbook as I described the process that a tree goes through in order to become a piece of usable lumber. Now I can literally take my students there, and they can watch the whole process from start to finish. The other technology that I have implemented, is the VoiceThread, I use this in both my 7th grade and 8th grade classes. With this tool I have the students post a picture of their completed projects and explain the process they went through in order to complete the project. They get feedback from their classmates as well as me. The principle has even chimed in on a few threads. They really enjoy this new tool.
I don’t know if I have two long term goal changes that I would like to make to my instructional practice regarding technology integration, but I definitely have one. I would like to implement more technology into my 6th grade Industrial exploration class. The main problem to overcome is the time limit. This class is a six week long class, and the curriculum would have to be revamped. In order to do that, I would have to meet with the other Industrial Technology teacher at the other middle school, and then we would have to go in front of the school board in order to get our curriculum changed. However, I feel that it would be worth the time and effort to implement a change to my sixth grade curriculum. This will be a long process that I would like to start at the end of this school year and have the summer to make the necessary changes. I would like to implement a sixth grade technology exploration class where the students would be able to come into my Hi-tech classroom and experience the 12 different modules we have. This would give them the opportunity to start thinking about different career paths that they might be interested in. Right now this class is set up for 8th graders only.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Voice Thread
Here is the link to my voice thread. What a great little tool. I hope everyone had as much fun making their voice thread as I did.
https://voicethread.com/#q+Woodworking+room.b889800.i4742293
For some odd reason I can not create a link, so please just copy and paste the address into your browser. Thanks
https://voicethread.com/#q+Woodworking+room.b889800.i4742293
For some odd reason I can not create a link, so please just copy and paste the address into your browser. Thanks
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Connectivism and Social Learning in Practice
According to Dr. Orey in our DVD, social learning theories “actively engage students in constructing artifacts and conversing with others” (Laureate, 2009). An instructional strategy that encompasses the social learning theory is that of cooperative learning. Based on our class text, Using Technology with classroom instruction that works, cooperative learning “focuses on having students interact with each other in groups in ways that enhance their learning” (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, Malenoski, 2007).
Social learning theories incorporate Vgostsky’s Zone of Proximal Development. Based on the three areas, what the child knows, what the child is able to learn at the time, and the highest level, what the child is unable to learn at this time, we can see that the cooperative learning takes place during the highest zone of proximal development. Meaning, the student needs “more knowledgeable others” (Laureate, 2009). The learner is being actively engaged with a parent, teacher, peer, or even a computer, to gain the knowledge that is normally unattainable by them.
Our class text lists some collaborative learning tools that correlate to the cooperative learning strategy. It first talks about Multimedia, for instance, videos. Here the students are required to work as teams to complete an activity. If this video project was done individually, then the students would not be able to feed off of one another for ideas. So, by working as a group, they are able to access each others ideas and put them into one big idea.
Another collaborative tool is web resources. Here students are able to collaborate with more than just their classmates. With the help of the web, students are able to gather more information quicker than they could before, they can collaborate with other students in their school or even students that are outside of their state or country, the web has opened up the limitations that used to exist with researching. Within the web, students are able to access online gaming where they are able to interact with other students simultaneously through some type of gaming interface. The best part of this type of tool is that the students are able to play against each other as opposed to playing against a machine.
The tools that students are able to access today have opened doors allowing students to explore beyond their desks. The idea of social learning theories is played out every day in every classroom. Teachers have their students work collaboratively to get more out of the project that has been assigned. Cooperative learning is a large part of education, and the reason for this is to allow our students to get ready for what is waiting for them when they are out in the workforce. Companies today are looking for people who are people persons, people who can get along with others, people who share their ideas for the advancement of a larger goal. If we don’t start this type of learning at a young age, then this type of desirable trait will be difficult to obtain. As an educator, I have learned more from teaching my students then I ever did when I was the one learning.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Bridging learning theory, instruction, and technology. Baltimore: Author.
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
Social learning theories incorporate Vgostsky’s Zone of Proximal Development. Based on the three areas, what the child knows, what the child is able to learn at the time, and the highest level, what the child is unable to learn at this time, we can see that the cooperative learning takes place during the highest zone of proximal development. Meaning, the student needs “more knowledgeable others” (Laureate, 2009). The learner is being actively engaged with a parent, teacher, peer, or even a computer, to gain the knowledge that is normally unattainable by them.
Our class text lists some collaborative learning tools that correlate to the cooperative learning strategy. It first talks about Multimedia, for instance, videos. Here the students are required to work as teams to complete an activity. If this video project was done individually, then the students would not be able to feed off of one another for ideas. So, by working as a group, they are able to access each others ideas and put them into one big idea.
Another collaborative tool is web resources. Here students are able to collaborate with more than just their classmates. With the help of the web, students are able to gather more information quicker than they could before, they can collaborate with other students in their school or even students that are outside of their state or country, the web has opened up the limitations that used to exist with researching. Within the web, students are able to access online gaming where they are able to interact with other students simultaneously through some type of gaming interface. The best part of this type of tool is that the students are able to play against each other as opposed to playing against a machine.
The tools that students are able to access today have opened doors allowing students to explore beyond their desks. The idea of social learning theories is played out every day in every classroom. Teachers have their students work collaboratively to get more out of the project that has been assigned. Cooperative learning is a large part of education, and the reason for this is to allow our students to get ready for what is waiting for them when they are out in the workforce. Companies today are looking for people who are people persons, people who can get along with others, people who share their ideas for the advancement of a larger goal. If we don’t start this type of learning at a young age, then this type of desirable trait will be difficult to obtain. As an educator, I have learned more from teaching my students then I ever did when I was the one learning.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Bridging learning theory, instruction, and technology. Baltimore: Author.
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
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