Week 13: Glogster

Check out my first ever Glogster.  The topic is Diversity in America's Suburbs:

http://www.glogster.com/hbodvd/wide-glog-by-hbodvd/g-6kanp6rg5etqo7uib0f4v63

Introducing Glogster to students is a great way to tap into their 21^st century digital abilities, familiarities and interests.  Upon learning the easy to understand format, today’s students can utilize this site to express their research and knowledge in many creative ways.  They can incorporate static visual elements like text boxes, pictures and charts but also include videos, audios and links to other sites.  This Web 2.0 tool is a neat platform to engage the students in capturing, collaborating and presenting their work.

As an option to a traditional paper book report, teachers can encourage students to create their own Glogsters to summarize a story, highlight details and generate interest among their fellow classmates.  Students can connect their writing with images, videos and audio clips they find on the internet or create on their own.  This will support student learning of ELA concepts by inspiring their creative minds to synthesize and express their comprehension.  As they research artifacts to include in their Glogsters, they will also enhance their digital research skills which will require effective writing and reading skills.  As students incorporate information and different elements in their Glogster,m they are developing important visual literacy and information skills.  Their original Glogsters can be assessed by the teacher and presented to the class in an interactive, multimedia presentation.

Besides book reports, teachers can challenge students to create Glogsters around students’ personal narratives or original poetry.  Teachers can connect with parents with their own Glogster that includes materials that have been used in the classroom.  This could include videos, images and sites that the teacher shared with students.  Parents can stay connected with the teacher more than ever before.

The possibilities of using Glogster as an educational tool are only limited to one’s creativity.  Here is one teacher who found a very engaging way to use Glogster with her fourth grader students:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiS-Mdm3ZXc

Features of Glogster	Affordances
Ability to create a digital report with multiple media.	Students gains valuable digital skills including research and visual literacy.
Ability to perform real time collaboration.	Students can develop effective teamwork skills.  Teachers can monitor and assess student participation.
Ability to give interactive presentations.	Fellow students and teachers can be engaged.  Students can gain important presentation skill using ICTs.
Glogster is a social network with many users around the world.	Students and teachers can view many different Glogsters to learn and gain ideas.

  

Applicable DiAL-e learning designs	Pedagogical affordances available through Glogster
Stimulus activities (designed to engage or motivate learners)	Experiencing the multimedia elements of original Glogsters created by fellow students will engage learners.  The curiosities of the students may motivate them to learn more about a subject matter on their own.
Collaborative (working in groups to construct knowledge)	Utilizing Glogster as a platform, students can collaborate on a digital book report or poster from different locations like their home, library or school. Teachers can also provide immediate feedback to guid the students' work.
Conceptual (developing higher order thinking skills)	Glogster can be used to research information to enhance problem solving skills.  Students can be challenged with creating a Glogster to solve a mystery or a complex problem and show how they employed critical thinking skills.
Empathy (encouraging learners to see the world from alternate perspectives)	With over a million Glogster users from around the world, teachers can search for relevant and appropriate creations to share with students to expand their understanding of a subject matter.
Representational	With the ability to incorporate a large variety of elements including other Glogsters in their own design, students can create a Glogster with information and challenge fellow students and teachers to determine the objective of the new creation.

Keystone Assignment: Lesson Plan, Reflections on the Project Implementation

Lesson Plan - ELA Practice Through Jeopardy

Reflections on the Project Implementation

Integrating technology into a classroom lesson was a very engaging task that required some creativity, a comfort level with software, and technological skills.  The creation of this lesson started with defining a relevant and meaningful learning objective and determining ways I can assess the students’ understanding.  I then considered which platform I could utilize to reach that objective given the available classroom technology and skill level of the students.   Another consideration was to create a vehicle that can be versatile, transferable and reusable to increase its value as an educational tool.  I also wanted to maximize but also control the level of student engagement as they reach the learning objective.

During my observations of a third grade class, the importance of quality English language arts skills was very evident when the students were writing personal narrative essays.  The range of writing quality varied widely depending on the students’ skills including their knowledge and use of proper spelling and vocabulary. These essential skills are reinforced daily through instruction, classwork and homework.  However, the students are presented with a new set of 25 spelling words each Monday which then become the focus of ELA activities for that week.   Despite such exposure to these skills, I felt that a good learning objective would be further practice of recent spelling words to reinforce phonics, vocabulary and spelling skills.  By utilizing words they learned recently but not currently practicing, I also hoped to impart on the students the importance of retaining past knowledge.

With this relevant and meaningful learning objective, I then considered how I can assess their knowledge utilizing the available classroom technology.  The idea of an interactive SMART Board game show came to mind as a good way to assess students’ knowledge in an engaging way that capitalizes on their competitive spirits.  With its long history and enduring popularity¹,  Jeopardy is almost synonymous with trivia game shows.  Given the simple rules and familiar format, I also felt this could be easily adapted for future use with other spelling words and for almost any other subject like math, science and social studies.

With a proficiency in Powerpoint gained through experience in my corporate marketing career, I customized a previously-designed Jeopardy game file for this third grade class.  To simplify scorekeeping for these young students, I replaced the multiple point values generally found on Jeopardy gameboards with letters and added colors for each column of clues.  I used large, clear fonts in bold white lettering on a solid blue background to maximize visibility of the clues for students who may have vision impairment.  I also included sounds for each clue and answer to further engage the students.

I worked with the classroom teacher, Mrs. Moeller, to determine the content of the clues.  She provided me with the spelling words from each of the previous nine school weeks. With each set of weekly spelling words grouped by a phonics sound pattern, I selected four (long “a”, long “e”, short “e”, short “u”) for the Jeopardy game and added a column of “No Excuse Words” which are included with each weekly set of words.  I then selected five spelling words from each category partly based on the relative commonality of each word as determined by Google Books Ngram Viewer². 

I created clues using a mix of sentence completion and definition clues because both are commonly used in summative assessments.  I designed the clues to be meaningful and relevant to the third grade students even including their teacher and teacher aides as subjects.  To introduce interdisciplinary skills, I included a few clues that called upon the students’ math and foreign language skills (the class has a weekly Spanish period.)  I made the Final Jeopardy clue specifically for the teacher to conclude the game.

After several rounds of testing and revising clues with my own family including my 4^th and 7^th grade children, I finalized the game board to present to the students. 

When I presented the game, objectives and rules to the students, they were quite excited even though the clues were going to engage their spelling, vocabulary and phonics skills.  Gameplay on the SMART Board went smoothly with just a few unexpected but minor technical glitches.  I had brought my laptop in case of major technical issues.  Having a backup plan to such a technology-dependent activity is highly recommended. Quick thinking helps, too.  For one student, the answer appeared instead of the clue.  Not wanting to skip this opportunity, I asked the student to identify the part of speech and to use the word in a sentence to demonstrate comprehension.

After students provided answers, I would highlight key strategies to help identify, pronounce and spell words correctly.  To differentiate instruction, I gave extra time and clues to certain students. For example, I had to remind a few students of the phonics sound pattern that should be represented in their answers.  The twenty students were constantly engaged as the game progressed steadily through the 26 clues.  The Final Jeopardy question was an interdisciplinary clue and the only answer that was not one of their weekly spelling words.  It was actually a word that I helped Mrs. Moeller pronounce and spell correctly several times during my observation.

When the Jeopardy game concluded, I asked the students to share how such a fun activity helps them learn.  Their responses hit all the salient points including using phonics, spelling patterns, and context clues to come up with the correctly spelled and pronounced answers.  The students enjoyed the relevancy and challenge of the clues and were appreciative that the game was customized just for their class.  Several interested students asked me how I was able to do that.  I encouraged them to come up with their own game to serve an educational purpose even if it’s just for their own benefit.  In the future, I may produce a brief video to show how I created this particular game to further educate students and engage their own creativity. 

The Jeopardy game fulfilled the learning objective in a fun, engaging way in the planned 40 minute class period.  The students were excited that they were able to apply their previous knowledge and several literacy strategies to come up with answers to the clues.  This activity triggered their excitement to learn and the students look forward to similar opportunities to apply what they know.

References

1 Syndicated TV Ratings for Week Ending November 17, 2013,

http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2013/11/26/syndicated-tv-ratings-judge-judy-is-number-1-in-households-wheel-of-fortune-wins-total-viewers-dr-phil-top-talker-for-week-ending-november-17-2013/218112/

2  Google Books Ngram Viewer, https://books.google.com/ngrams

Keystone Assignment: A Teacher's Understanding and Use of New Literacies

Interview language arts teacher to find out their understanding of new literacies and how they practice new literacies in the classrooms.

I observed a third grade teacher, Mrs. Moeller, and asked her about her understanding of new literacies and how they are incorporated in her students’ education.  Not surprisingly, she has learned a lot of how technology is transforming our everyday lives through the experiences of her own children who are age 12 and 9.  She has learned the type of knowledge today’s students need given the increasingly technology-driven world they are growing up in.

Mrs. Moeller realizes the critical need for her students to be comfortable, knowledgeable and eventually proficient in using the classroom computers and common software applications to read text, express ideas, and research information.  While she wishes there was more time and resources for more formal instruction on computer and software skills, she exposes and encourages students to use the classroom’s five desktop computers.  She finds that her young students are mostly familiar and comfortable using this technology and that they sometimes rely on each other to learn new skills on the spot.

The experienced teacher selects software applications and online sites that are suitable for her young students.  For example, they have used Microsoft Word to write personal narrative essays and Microsoft Powerpoint to organize and present information for classroom presentations.  At this stage of third grade, Mrs. Moeller finds that her students can navigate through these applications with little instruction as long as they don’t get too ambitious in utilizing each program’s many design elements.

To provide her students with practice opportunities to develop and reinforce math skills, Mrs. Moeller gives them time on the classroom computers to utilize IXL.com.  This interactive website, whose subscription is funded by the school district, engages students with lively activities, real time feedback and clear instruction.  Additionally, she uses an interactive application called Kidspiration on inspiration.com to build and reinforce her students’ literacy and comprehension skills.  Not only do the children develop critical math and ELA skills, they are learning new literacy skills by reading and solving problems through the computer and these educational websites.  

Mrs. Moeller also utilizes the classroom SMART Board several times throughout the school day.  To start every school day, she writes the homework assignments on a template shown on the SMART Board. This template mirrors the students’ agenda books to facilitate easier transcription.  For each math unit, she displays a publisher-provided multimedia and interactive instructional piece that engages her students.  She then utilizes the SMART Board to teach math concepts and models effective strategies to solve problems. 

While there is much more the students will learn as they progress through this school year and beyond, Mrs. Moeller is utilizing the available classroom technology and resources to teach valuable new literacy skills. Her third graders are already reading, writing, organizing, presenting, learning, and problem-solving using technology.   Her goal with new literacies for this school year is to transform a pen-pal program with a nearby third grade class from a traditional pencil-and-paper exchange through postal mail to an ICT format delivered through email.  This will expand the forms of expression available to students in both schools and engage them with more timely delivery.  I asked Mrs. Moeller if real time video chatting is in consideration for future pen pal exchanges and she said, “Absolutely!” 

Keystone Assignment: Reflecting Upon Foundational Print and New Literacies

Reflecting Upon Foundational Print and New Literacies

In an increasingly expanding global economy with rapidly evolving technologies, the importance of literacy proficiency has grown significantly.  More than ever, students need to learn literacy skills to read, write, speak, listen, and visually represent their knowledge and opinions across numerous platforms and media to prepare them for college education and careers.

Throughout modern history, teachers have developed their students’ literacy through of a variety of printed texts including classic literature, contemporary fiction, poetry, nonfiction stories and informational articles.  With massive collections of printed material still in existence and more produced and used every day, the need for today’s students to comprehend text in this format remains critically important.  For example, 17,000 American public libraries¹ still contain large volumes of printed books and magazines that still make up about two thirds of the 2.5 billion materials that are circulated annually².  The top two newspapers continue to have daily printed circulation near 1.5 million in the US while dozens of local newspapers average in the hundreds of thousands³ each day.  Even in today’s increasingly technology-laden world, we are still immersed in printed material.

However, today’s students need to be exposed to a broader range of information that will expand their knowledge and perspective of the world.  To be college and career-ready, they will also need to be proficient at comprehending text and expressing knowledge and ideas through an expanding variety of information and communication technologies (ICTs).  Skill development in new literacies is becoming more and more essential as technology continues to transform the world and impact our lives in many ways.  There is a critical need for today’s students to develop proficiency in new literacies in order to learn, evaluate, communicate, collaborate and succeed with available and future technologies.   With the rapid introduction and adoption of new technological tools, students need to learn a dynamic and growing set of new literacy skills that includes researching information through the internet and determining relevancy, validity, objectivity and purpose of such information among a virtually endless supply of data. 

Proficiency in literacy of text and information presented in printed and digital forms is fast becoming equally important given the rapid adoption of ICTs in our everyday lives.  For example, while millions of newspapers are still being printed and circulated daily, millions of daily digital editions of the same newspaper are now being circulated^1.  While e-books remain a small percentage of circulation in the libraries, their use is growing extremely rapidly².  Their increasing popularity is evidenced by the over 30 million e-book readers sold in the U.S. in just three years⁴.

Today’s children will need literacy skills to understand and communicate in various ways besides traditional pen and paper.  They will utilize a wide range of tools including email, chat, video and other quickly emerging technologies. As tools are introduced in schools to prepare students for college and careers, many are already utilized in industry.  By learning new literacies, today’s students will be better prepared to succeed in an increasingly-global and connected environment.

References:

1 Every Library and Museum in America, Mapped, http://www.theatlanticcities.com/neighborhoods/2013/06/every-library-and-museum-america-mapped/5826/

2  Materials Mix: Investigating Trends in Materials Budgets and Circulation,  http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2013/02/publishing/materials-mix-investigating-trends-in-materials-budgets-and-circulation/#_

3  Top 25 U.S. Newspapers for March 2013,  http://www.auditedmedia.com/news/research-and-data/top-25-us-newspapers-for-march-2013.aspx

4  E-Reader Market Shrinks Faster Than Many Predicted, http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/20/e-book-reader-tablets-cannibalized/?_r=0

Week 11: Determining Affordances, VoiceThread

Evaluating pedagogical affordances of media sharing Web 2.0 technologies: A case study

Kevin Burden

Centre for Educational Studies

The University of Hull, UK 

Simon Atkinson

College of Education

Massey University, NZ

The article discusses a very relevant issue regarding technology tools and how they are can evaluated for educational purposes,  With an ever-increasing selection of such tools available, it would be beneficial to determine if and how they could support instructional goals in the classroom.  While Web2.0 tools like VoiceThread offer features that are convenient to share information and gain feedback in multiple formats, the benefits for educational purposes may not be so evident.  This article includes a useful, diagnostic tool, DiAL-e, that helps an educator synthesize pedagogical affordances of such technology.  With so many available options, this tool is essential to determine potential applications without assuming how teachers and students can use the technology.  The article also stresses the need for educators to take a strategic approach before adopting technology in the classroom to maximize its value and usefulness. 

Click here for a VoiceThread showing and critiquing the baseball pitching technique of an 8 year old boy:
http://voicethread.com/share/5190271/

Your comments on my first ever VoiceThread are welcomed!

Digital Storytelling Project: Steffi Goes on a Cruise

Please enjoy this original digital story about a cute bear named Steffi.

http://youtu.be/llgSdDqoqRc

Week 9, Assignment 1: Research on Blogging

"The Impact of Using Blogs on College Students' Reading Comprehension and Learning Motivation

Hui-Yin Hsu & Shiangkwei Wang (2010): The Impact of Using Blogs on College Students' Reading Comprehension and Learning Motivation, Literacy Research and Instruction, 50:1, 68-88

This article summarizes new research on the effectiveness of utilizing blogging to improve comprehension and learning motivation among college students.  The research is particularly timely given the relatively fast rates of adoption of technology in education.  Moreover, it is thought-provoking to future educators like me as we consider how to incorporate technology in the classroom in instructionally-effective ways. While the results of this research on using blogging did not show measurable gains in students’ reading performance or learning motivation, they raised some points which should be considered for future research and debate. 

Primarily, the research concludes that students who used blogging developed a learning community that helped students support each other.  One significant impact of such a community could be the increased retention rate as compared to a group of similar students who had not engaged in blogging for the same class.  The increased level of support may have helped students deal with difficult academic or social situations, understand new learning concepts, and realize that frustrations are often shared by others in the same situation.

Additionally, the use of blogging offered students another form to express themselves beyond in-class discussions and demonstrate their knowledge and comprehension.  Not only does the interactivity of blogging foster a deeper discussion of the topic or lesson among students, it gives instructors more opportunity to assess the interest in a subject, clarify misunderstandings, provide more meaningful context and examples, and gain evidence in students’ deficiency or proficiency.

A key takeaway from this research is that upfront and ongoing support for instructors is critical to allow them to maximize use of technology.  As with all new things, there will be a varying degree of comfort among educators with technology.  It would be wrong to assume that all instructors will have the skills, knowledge and comfort to effectively incorporate new technology like blogging in the classroom.

As a future educator, I am enlightened by this research on how I can utilize blogging in a classroom.  Specifically, I know that a solid knowledge base and comfort level of such a tool would be a necessary first step.  I also know that the tool needs to match the objective.  Based on these results, a proper objective to utilizing blogging could be to offer differentiated forms of expression and knowledge to students who feel more comfortable in this medium.  Also, the use of blogging could help deepen the knowledge of a topic among students and create a stronger sense of community. Depending on the grade level of my future students, I can envision having them blog about their activities during a long school break like at the end of the calendar year.  That would be a fun way to keep students engaged and help build a rapport that will translate into the classroom learning environment. 

Week 8: Summary of Peers' Articles

Adolescents’ Web-Based Literacies, Identity Construction, and Skill Development

This article presents interesting primary research on the creation of online identities by five high school students.  As most adolescents have historically struggled to create their identities in the ‘real’ world, many of today’s connected teenagers are compelled to create online personas that share their interests, lifestyles, and personalities.  The five case studies in this article show how the process of creating and maintaining online identities and utilizing the internet for communication, learning, and research can vary as widely as individual interests.  It was not surprising that the online identities support their offline activities and interests.  While the research does not concretely identify implications for academic achievement in literacy skills, it does open the door for further supportive research.

TECHnology and Literacy for Adolescents With Disabilities

As technology becomes available and accessible to assist educators and students in reaching learning goals and achieving academically, a process is needed to formalize how and which tools are used.  This article presents such a structured process called TECH which helps select the appropriate technology to meet students’ needs.  To start, educators should target students’ needs before evaluating available technology options.  This is followed by the critical step of incorporating the selected technology into instructional practices before implementing it and assessing student performance.  The article shares how the real world application of TECH has helped students improve writing skills and overcome comprehension challenges utilizing existing Web 2.0 tools and educational websites.

The iPad Effect: Leveraging Engagement, Collaboration, and Perseverance

This is an interesting and relevant article given the relative explosion in the adoption of iPads and similar tablet devices in some schools.  While the examples are still a small minority of all schools, there are some classes, schools and even entire districts where students are utilizing these technology tools in classrooms and/or at home.  This article opens the debate of the effectiveness of these devices on academic achievement.  While there hasn’t been enough time to measure any gains on achievement, this article points how teachers are using this technology to encourage students’ creativity and that a more effective implementation limits the ratio of tablet device to students to 1:2.  More research is needed to determine if students are more persistent and collaborative in the learning and classroom behavior with the use of this technology. 

Book Builder: More Than One Way to Be Special

I wrote this book partially based on my own life experience.  When I entered first grade in Manhattan, I was the only boy in the entire elementary school who was Chinese.  I did not realize that until I moved to Queens in the middle of third grade.  Little did I know that my new neighborhood was very different.  On the first day of my new school, I shyly entered the classroom and I was surprised to see other Chinese boys like me.  Many would think a person in that new situation would feel very comfortable being surrounded by others who are alike. But, coming from a different experience, I wasn’t sure how to feel just like Hank in the story.  In essence, I substituted my racial difference with a uniquely-favorite color in the story so that young students will be able to relate.

The fourth grade teacher I shared this with thought the book was outstanding.  After a first draft, she reminded me that first and second graders, my intended audience, should be exposed to more challenging text than I had originally wrote.  So, I increased the length of some sentences and deliberately left some pages without an image.

Like me, ELA teachers can create their own books through Book Builder to incorporate any specific issues or learning objectives.  Depending on the grade level, it would be an engaging exercise to have students create their own story to enhance writing skills.  They can be creative and share a story based on their experience or hobbies.

I hope teachers can use my story to help their students understand there are more ways to feel special than just one.  This will help build their self-confidence and develop their character.  The book can also begin a discussion on the unique qualities we each have and how we should respect each other’s differences.

I hope you enjoy this book:   More Than One Way to Be Special

Week 7: Assignment 2: Applying Second Life and Multimodalities

While the open functionality of Second Life allows for virtual interaction, the fourth grade teacher I interviewed could not see an application for her 9 year old students.  She thought the platform had limited use for teaching an ELA lesson and felt the students would be disinterested with the lack of structure, control and manipulatives.   After brainstorming, we settled on one application that may meet ELA learning objectives while the students are engaged in Second Life.  Students, via their avatars, would engage in a treasure hunt to enhance a unit on new vocabulary words.  Prior to jumping into a Second Life virtual world, each student will be given specific and unique information like a definition, a synonym or antonym to a new vocabulary word, a sentence using a new vocabulary word, or a clue that will direct others to students who have the desired information.  Every student will be given the same set of five vocabulary words.  Their goal will be to enter a relevant Second Life scenario, collaborate with each other on finding the correct definition, synonym, antonym and sentence to each of the five new vocabulary words.   The students will have to use their knowledge and teamwork with fellow students to match all parts correctly.  This timed treasure hunt will be highly interactive, creative, fun, and, of course, educational.  The teacher can assess their understanding and performance when everyone returns to the real world classroom.  

While not as engaging as Second Life, the fourth grade teacher embraced the concepts of multimodality in teaching ELA.  The new program she (and every elementary school teacher in the district) includes a large amount of interactive SMART Board activities that help bring stories and nonfiction text alive through multimedia.  This includes expressive narration, highlighted words or phrases, detailed visuals with thoughtfully-selected contexts, and relevant sound effects to enhance understanding.  Not only do these different modes create a more effective learning environment, learners of different styles and preferences have access to information in various formats.   Additionally, the students have started weekly work on a Powerpoint presentation on what they are learning in fourth grade.  The teacher encourages them to using multimodality concepts to enhance their ongoing work. Students have already applied colors, different fonts and sizes, images and sounds to highlight and broaden the expression of what they have learned.  The students’ presentations will be presented to their parents in the Spring and will be a keepsake of their fourth grade school year.  

Here I am exploring a Second Life shopping mall.

Week 7: Article review

The article ‘Theories and Practices of Multimodal Education: The Instructional Dynamics of Picture Books and Primary Classrooms” was fascinating!  I learned about the nuances that are thoughtfully placed in picture books to convey meaning and generate emotion.  I’m not sure I ever paid so much attention to the contents of a picture book beyond just the text and the illustrations.  However, after reading this article and the case studies of the elementary school teachers utilizing multimodalities in their classrooms, I now am more aware of subtle but impactful changes like text font, color and size.  Like the example in the article, teachers can engage students by discovering such modes during a whole class reading of a book.  Students can then apply their new knowledge in their own expressive and illustrative writing to make their text come alive.   By being more aware of the cues provided in a picture book and understanding the cultural context which gives meaning to such modes, student comprehension can increase.  It is important for teachers to ensure students understand these multiple modes given the diversity of experience each student bring into the classroom.  For example, increasingly larger text in a picture book may indicate the character is shouting to some students but to others, this could indicate something different depending on how their culture or experiences shape their understanding.

The article “Using the ADDIE Model to Design Second Life Activities for Online Learners” reignites my interest in Second Life. In my previous corporate career, I had heard about large organizations like IBM utilize Second Life for various purposes.  I considered incorporating this platform to foster a culture of inclusion and respect for diversity particularly among new employees.  At that time, I was not impressed with the quality of interaction and the time it took to engage with other avatars.  After patiently with Second Life, I felt that videoconferencing and/or a conference call provided more value despite their own limitations.  Four years later however, internet speeds and bandwidths have risen considerably and I would guess users of a data-intensive application like Second Life would benefit. Given the relatively unstructured nature of Second Life, applying a methodical instructional design principle like ADDIE is necessary to tailor the platform for educational uses.  With the right design, implementation and evaluation, I can see how an effective learning environment can be designed using the collaborative and exploratory benefits of Second Life.

My Edmodo homepage

Week 6: Assignment 2-1 and 2-2

Assignment 2-1 Read the two articles Middle School Science Teachers’ Confidence and Pedagogical Practices of New Literacies and Using Social Networking Sites to Enhance Teaching and Learning in the Science Classroom and share your Reader Response thoughts on the blog.

These two articles summarize two different perspectives of how technology can be utilized in the classroom to teach science.  From a research perspective, the first article shares findings that identify and measure hurdles to implementing ICTs in the science classroom.  One such obstacle is the level of self-efficacy in the abilities with basic technology skills and with incorporating ICT in their curriculum.  The recent research indicates that while students have grown comfortable with such technology in their lifetimes, it seems that educators need more time and experience to hone their skills and develop the confidence to utilize ICT in their classrooms.  The other challenge found in the primary research reveals an equally daunting hurdle which is a lack of technology infrastructure.  About half of the 32 middle school science teachers had limited access to technology.  With such inconsistency in available technology, the application of ICT varied widely among the students on the observed classrooms.

The second article shows a smaller number of observations but some real world application that shows how social networking can be used effectively for learning and collaborating in science.  One example is the use of Edmodo in a photosynthesis class project where students were able to access teacher-provided resources, capture data, present findings in various multimedia formats and exchange feedback to each other.  The teacher is able to oversee the students’ interaction and guide their learning and observations.  Other examples demonstrate that students are highly engaged with the use of a social networking site like Edmodo.  Additionally, other sites like Google Docs help the learning process by providing a valuable collaborative tool with free programs for word processing, spreadsheet and presentation slide shows.

Both articles are critical for educators to learn how to incorporate today’s available technology in the science classroom.  While infrastructure limitations can inhibit possibilities, confidence in utilizing technology where available will surely grow with time. Effective utilization of existing resources show that today’s science classrooms can benefit greatly as student engagement is heightened with the incorporation of familiar technology. 

Assignment 2-2 Explore at least 5 Edmodo  functions and detail each function. Write a paragraph on how ELA teachers can use Edmodo to enhance their ELA instruction. 

Edmodo Planner is a convenient calendar that includes quizzes and reminders of future assignments.  The calendar can be shown in a weekly or monthly view.  From either view, you can click on an item and it launches from the calendar.

The Quiz function is easily customizable to create questions to assess student knowledge.  In little time, I created a four question, true/false quiz with a five minute time limit.  I was able to set a due date and assign it to specific people.

The Poll function can be useful as a quick check of student knowledge, opinion or preference.  I created a one question/three choice poll on a science unit to ignite student interest and measure their basic knowledge.

Assignments can be uploaded with a due date and sent to specific people.  In my sample, I just created a blank assignment to myself with a brief description and a due date.  I see the assignment on my home page with a button that appears to track how many have been turned in.

The Notes section is a handy memo function to set reminders or announcements for the user and students.  Others can reply to the note with one of their own.  This operates much like facebook where others can see a continuing conversation.

With a platform that appears much like facebook, Edmodo is quite intuitive for most of today’s digital learners.  Students will be able to jump right in and get engaged with a fairly smooth learning curve.  An ELA teacher can assign homework through Edmodo as well as spark conversation among students about their interpretations of a particular reading passage.  The teacher can also engage students with a poll on what a character may or should do next in a newly-created scenario.  This could be a fun activity as the students can get creative while the teacher can assess their understanding at the same time.  The functions of Edmodo allow an ELA teacher to further classroom discussion and allow students of different learning styles and preferences to participate from their homes.  Utilizing a social network platform to supplement instruction and assessment can be a valuable tool given the high level of student engagement, real time information and feedback, and flexible functionality of the resource.

Week 6: Assignment 1: Article Review: How Teens Do Research in the Digital World

How Teens Do Research in the Digital World

Purcell, Kristen; Rainie, Lee; Heaps, Alan; Buchanan, Judy; Friedrich, Linda; Jacklin, Amanda; Chen, Clara; Zickuhr, Kathryn

Pew Internet & American Life Project, November 1, 2012

http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED537513.pdf

This is a timely and relevant article that presents research on how adolescents are performing research in today’s increasingly digital world.  The primary research comprised of survey responses and focus groups of over 2,000 middle and high school teachers with the majority of respondents from the Advanced Placement and National Writing Project communities.  The diverse sampling of American educators provided some interesting results which were positive but also alarming.  Positively, 77% of teachers say today’s internet and digital search tools have had a mostly positive impact on their students’ research habits.  They also cite greater access to a broad and deep pool of information in a variety of formats including multimedia. 

However, teachers raise important changes that can be argued as concerning consequences of today’s technology.  Two thirds of respondents say that digital technologies distract students more than they help academically.  Specifically regarding research, teachers cite an overdependence on search engines relative to other sources like online databases, credible news sites, printed materials or reference librarians.  They also worry that many students are not taking the effort nor have the skill to judge the quality of online information.  Many teachers are now spending time to educate students how to assess the reliability of online information because students have displayed a tendency to accept such information without verifying its accuracy.  One respondent commented “Students cut and paste without reading or evaluating the information."

  

To help students perform better research beyond just “googling”, teachers are directing students to specific, credible online resources and requiring a variety of sources that includes online and offline.  While these efforts will enhance this generation’s research skills, one teacher remarked “Students generally think of ‘research’ as looking up a topic using the minimum number of resources required for the assignment and then paraphrasing (if they're not outright plagiarizing) what they say.”

Technology has definitely changed the way adolescents have approached research at a rapid pace.  A chief concern by the responding teachers is that today’s middle and high school students are not developing an adequate ability to think critically about the research findings they are getting with relative ease through a search engine.  With rapidly changing resources, needs and habits, today’s curriculum standards need to support the focus on critical thinking and problem solving skills throughout the education of this generation.  While students now have the benefit of accessing information on demand from virtually anywhere, they are missing out on learning critical research skills that had promoted lifelong problem solving skills.  One quote from this research that captures this disturbing trend states, “Students have become more lazy about research, relying on the first selection of sources, rather than digging deeper into subject matter.“

Week 5: Utilizing Games in the Classroom

With the availability of technology increasing at rapid rates, so is the ease of creating and using such technology for applications that can entertain, educate or both.   Today’s teachers have a seemingly endless list of choices in how they can implement new technology in their classrooms to engage students in a new topic, enhance instruction or assess student academic knowledge.   Games are just one way educators can bring technology to their instruction.  For example, simple computer games can help young students develop logical sequencing skills by having them organize pictures, numbers or words in a certain order.  One effective use of computer games can help students master English language arts (ELA) concepts like vocabulary terms, parts of speech and spelling.  Teachers can gain important data on each of their students as they play the games.  This real time information can help teachers perform quality assessments and guide their instruction.

As a future educator who is comfortable with technology, I look forward to incorporating games in my instruction with a particular focus on assessment.  Not only will students surely be engaged by using familiar technology, the use of information and communication technology (ICT) can be a critical component in measuring academic achievement as tomorrow’s young students are increasingly exposed to digital interactions.  From the perspective of students who have grown up in a home environment where ICT is commonly used to read, learn, communicate and transact, the use of computer-based games can be an effective measure of their academic knowledge.  While teachers should continue to assess students with a variety of methods including observation, discussion and traditional paper-based examinations, they can gain a more complete assessment of their students’ knowledge by differentiating their assessment like their instruction.  By utilizing games, teachers benefit from real time feedback which can guide their instruction.  The students’ performance will help teachers understand where more instruction is needed or which concepts need reinforcement.  More specific data will indicate which particular students need additional instruction or clarification.  With such immediate information, a teacher can address these instructional needs immediately.

Teachers can utilize numerous platforms like Gamestar Mechanic to develop games for use in their classrooms.  I found another platform which can be customized specifically to help students master ELA concepts and teachers assess student knowledge as a whole class or individually.  Openminds.io, recently acquired by Edmodo, offers an easy-to-use platform with several built-in games that utilizes ELA concepts that the teacher inputs.  For example, the teacher can manually input a current list of vocabulary words and their definitions.  Students can then play games where they match up words with their definition, select the correct word to complete a phrase or identify properly-spelled words.  As students play these simple and engaging games, their teacher can use real time data on how the students are performing relative to their mastery of the content.   Not only can this valuable data adjust the pace of instruction immediately, it should be added to other forms of assessment so the teacher can better determine the knowledge of the students.

See a video tutorial here on using OpenMinds:  http://screencast.com/t/jFaf489QrDv

Week 4, Assignment 3: Brief Tutorial using Jing

Here is my first tutorial created with Jing.  A brief tutorial on using SimCity 3000:

http://screencast.com/t/GKquaM1hRJdf

Week 4,Assignment 2: Lesson Plan

Lesson Plan:  Using SimCity in an ELA Curriculum

Subject area:  English Language Arts

Grade level:  Fourth – fifth grades

Time:  One 45 minute class period

Lesson objective:  Students will be able to identify decisions that are made to build a city and manage it operations, and consequences of making informed decisions using evidence and results from an interactive game.

Common Core State Standards/Learning Outcomes:

• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.1 Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.4.7 Interpret information presented visually, orally, or quantitatively (e.g., in charts, graphs, diagrams, time lines, animations, or interactive elements on Web pages) and explain how the information contributes to an understanding of the text in which it appears.

Description of Learning Tasks and Instructional Activities:

• Utilizing an already developed town in SimCity shown on the classroom SMART Board, explain the objective of the game as building a city and making smart decisions to grow it. 
• Give examples of decisions that will impact the economy, growth of the population and environment.
• Display and distribute a summary of decisions that will be made in class.
• Make decisions to grow and manage the city.
• From the paper text and onscreen game, students will:
• o   Define and comprehend new vocabulary terms and phrases.
• o   Identify clues within the text that help the reader make inferences.
• o   Cite evidence from the text to support answers.
• o   Follow directions to make informed decisions.
• o   Identify gaming elements that provide important information.
• o   Predict outcomes of decisions based on information.

Required resources:  Classroom computer, SMART Board, SimCity software

Assessment:  Pre-assessment:  Students will engage in a 30 second writing exercise identifying decisions that are made to build a city and manage it operations.

Post-assessment:  Students will engage in a 30 second writing exercise identifying decisions that are made to build a city and manage it operations.  Expectation for exemplary rubric score is double the output of the student’s pre-assessment demonstrating understanding of new concepts and vocabulary.

Debriefing

In order to ensure that students connect their gaming experiencing to real life situations, the teacher will lead them through a class discussion on the decisions they just made in the game and the results that followed.   Students will be asked to share some real world decisions they have seen in their neighborhood and identify some of the implications.  Some examples could be the opening of a new store, building of a park or the repair of a local street.  Students will then deepen the connection and call upon their creativity by writing one decision they would make and detail the associated potential consequences.  Through this instructional scaffolding, the students will link their gaming experience to thinking strategically and solving problems in other real world situations.

Cognitive Skills 

By playing a complex game like SimCity, students will develop numerous cognitive skills include processing information quickly and strategically, synthesizing visual information, formulating logical reasoning, solving problems, and maintaining attention to details.

New Literacies Skills

      Students playing SimCity develop 21^st century skills in processing information and communicating utilizing today’s technology.  Not only do students become proficient in information technology skills, they develop critical thinking skills to make informed decisions.  Students will also gain valuable experience in getting, evaluating and processing non-printed information through playing SimCity.  Such new literacies skills are critical as students are surrounded by an enhanced learning environment at school and at home.