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.