The Space Between - Final Blog Post - Work in Progress

Part I: How technology shapes learning in your classroom

•                What is your research question?

•                What inspired you to come up with that question?

•                How did you collect data?

•                What did you discover while analyzing the data?

•                How will the results influence your future use of technology as a learning tool?

            In my second placement, in a junior high school, I observed teachers feeling pressure to have their students interact with technology. I wondered why these junior high teachers felt such a strong pressure to do this when I did not see the same kind of urgency in the high school setting. Mrs. Robertson, an English 3D instructor, explained “many students, in my classroom in particular, are not exposed to technology in the same way as some of their more privileged peers might be. Most of my kids don’t have smart phones and a few have to go to a relatives’ house to use the Internet.  They need all the practice they can get while at school.” Her explanation confirmed my understanding of the technology gap, and how some teachers feel the pressure to close that gap. Another instructor, Mrs. Carmean, teaches 8^th grade English and reminded me that the new common assessment, Smarter Balanced is a computer-based test, that will be given to all 8^th graders this spring. She expressed her concern, “students who don’t have much exposure to reading and writing at a computer, could test below their ability level.”

I had many different questions initially about technology and learning. They stemmed from what I observed in the classroom. I observed technology being implemented in the classroom in a variety of ways. Instructors using iPads 

Tah-may-toe/Toe-mah-toe-  My Question: Stated Three Ways

Are students cognitively overloaded when asked to perform a task that requires them to use technology? What I am looking for in this inquiry is when students are given an activity, and the activity requires the manipulation of technology does it interfere with the student’s ability to complete the task. Does the use of technology help or hinder the learning process?


Part II: Reflection on ED325

When I first entered the computer lab I felt like I was one of the less computer savvy people in the room. I knew my way around the basic process and software but that was where my comfort zone ended. I entered the room intimidated but also curious. I was curious about what other tricks I would learn, tools I would encounter and how I would learn to implement them in an educational setting. What I didn't expect to learn about was theory. I loved how open and invested the class was in discussing the benefits and pitfalls of technology in education. Though I didn't come into to the room a techie, I did enter the room a thinker, and the space we were given to explore and discuss was by far the most beneficial thing to me. 

I am still learning, and assume I will never stop learning, about different aspects of technology but now I feel equipped to investigate and evaluate each new development  with the knowledge I have already acquired and the skills I practiced in this classroom.


I have learned about a variety of tools I can use in my class. I have learned skills that will help me in my teaching, like using iMovie and QuickTime to create and edit educational shorts. In fact, I used QuickTime to record my screen to show how to go through the steps to make a copy of a Google doc and then share it. I learned how to make Prezis so that not only can I present information in an engaging was but I can also guide my students through the process of creating their own engaging material to present.

APPs

EXCITING! I am the proud owner of a brand new shiny, hand-held computer!! Also known as the do everything thing or iPad mini.
Finally, I feel like I have entered the world of education technology and apps!! Besides being a completely distracting time suck, it is also a wonderful piece of teaching technology. 
As I have only just gotten this device I am still new to all the fancy things it can do, and I have only scratched the service of its many possible uses as a teacher.
In the one week that I have had my iPad I have downloaded:

• Netflix and Amazon Instant Video Apps
•  I used them to show clips in class
• GoogleDrive App
• I used this app to coordinate a research project that my students did. By sharing their files with me and mine with the them I had full access to monitor each group.
• While before I used the website, the app allows easy access from the iPad
• Paper by 53 and Notability
• Paper is a gorgeous app that you can use to design andorganize information visually
• Notability is a great tool that facilitates note taking and has a voice to text capability

All of these apps have practical use for me personally, but also can be used for teaching

The capability of mirroring surpasses any other advantage that this tiny tool provides, in my opinion. Mirroring allows me to be mobile throughout the class while still projecting information and interacting with that  projected information. Given that I am no longer anchored to a chair in front of a doc cam, nor tethered to a white board at the front of the class,  I gain the perspective of the student while also being able to use proximity to attend to attention issues in the back of the class. 

To facilitate this projectional capability I purchased the Notablity app. I had seen different teachers project a worksheet on the screen from the devices and then annotate and highlight the worksheet, as a model for the students or write down students answers on a worsheet. They told me about the app and said it was one of their favorites. At 2.99 I think this app is a worthy investment. 

Other Apps that I might consider using: EDU creations- for flipped classroom. Working with the virtual whiteboard to record lessons.
Talking Rapper- for ESL classroom. An engaging app that would help students produce
Shake- a- Phrase- for a middle school English classroom
Word Foto- a way for students to visual word in a text, to convey theme, etc.
DuoLingo- a supplemental game for the World Language classroom - Bonus, it's Free!

PLN's - Another three letter acronym

Teaching can often seem like an overwhelming individual endeavor, in order to avoid this feeling of isolation it is helpful for teachers to join and participate in a professional learning network, or PLN. This network can be withing the school, within the district, but teachers are now using social media and other technologies to reach out and network online. The purpose of these PLNs is to provide a space where teachers can ask for help, provide ideas and receive feedback on questions and ideas, in doing this PLNs not only aggregate information but also provides a dynamic sense of community.

There are many different forms of PLNs and many sites are devoted to curriculum sharing. It is important when interacting with these sites to read and review with a critical eye. With the copious amount of matieral available online it is critical to sift, organize, analyze the validity of information with attention to the currency of the information, the reliability, authority of the source and lastly the purpose/point of view. Indications of validity are: the site/blog is well known, has good reviews and it is relevant to what you are looking for. When looking at a site I also look at the comments below the post. I look at the dates to see when it was most recently read and commented and I look over to see if the comments are mainly positive or negative.  

The blog I was guided to through my trusted hub of EDUTOPIA, was a blog called “ I Want To Teach Forever”  by Tom DeRossa. His blog covers a variety of topics and themes and his purpose seems to be aggregating information from a variety of sites on a certain topic. I was interested in finding a place were I could access free lesson plans. I typed ‘lesson plans’ into the search engine on the site and it brought me to a post by a guest author Karen Schoeitzer, who is a writer for TeacherDegree.org. The post was entitled, "40 Places to Find Free Lesson Plans Online". Karen reviews each of the various sites and  I found them very helpful.

The Learning Games

I have thought often about motivation in my classes and in the classes  I observed, and how I can achieve a even a modicum of interest and engagement in my little minions. In my observations I have seen normally sloth-like teens and pre-teens jump for joy or roll their eyes and then sit up straight in their desks at the mention of the word "game."

I have seen games work really well in Spanish and in Science classes. Games help spice up the monotony of the school day and usually incentivize the student to participate. Where I see the issue with games is with what the students are actually learning.

There are many questions and implications to be addressed. Are the games fulfilling some type of educational purpose and not just a behavioral tool to garner engagement? Are the games designed to help the students integrate information they already know deeper into their grey matter? Are the games designed to help students with rapid recall of information? Do the games demand problem solving skills and understanding of the material to come up with a solution? 


Different types of games work well for different types of purposes and usually some types are more effective in a certain subject area than others. I have seen a science class learn about  genetics through an online game where you breed your own dragons. I have seen a Spanish class use a website that works like Mad Libs to help use context clues for new vocabulary. These were both fun and effective.


What I have been struggling with is how to implement games in the English classroom. I want a game that doesn't require huge amounts of reading or writing, because that would turn the majority of my students off. Also, I don't know of a game that really does a good job incentivizing students to correct grammatically incorrect sentences. I think that a game like Words with Friends could work in my class especially if I could project the game on a screen and adapt it from a two player game to a two team game (taking the pressure off of just one individual- and also tapping into the idea of crowd-sourcing). Words with Friends is great because there are many ways you can access it; on Apple devices, Android devices and on Facebook.

On an partially related note,  after class I was listening to NPR when the words 'role playing game' were said and my ears instantly perked up. It was a game about being a Russian immigration inspector, called "Papers, please" and thought it sounded like kind of a dreary game, I listened on, and found out that is kind of the point. You are placed in a game where you have to be a detective and your role is to be as thorough as possible. It exposes your to varying levels of politically loaded situations, like having to send back a refugee into a country where they might be killed, so that you do your job well, or letting them through and not following orders. As we are discussing the Holocaust in my English class right now, I felt elements of this game would be translatable for their discussion about what they have read about the people who though the banality of their actions allowed the mass extermination of a population occur.   I am not sure how much class time I would devote to the game if  I ever did decide to use it, but I am still ruminating on the idea. Take a look and let me know your thoughts.

Tech Tool of the Week: Word Sift

This tool struck me as really interesting for use in the ELA classroom

http://www.wordsift.com/


I did a practice run with the tool using the text from one of the many really brilliant writer/thinkers in our English cohort. Her post can be found here:

I think that its a great tool to allow students to see a visual representation of what would be the main ideas or key words of a text. These are some things we ask students to identify when examining a text.

I still need to sift through some more thoughts on this tool and its uses and implications before my post is completed.

Pros and Cons of Tech

Things that should be done with technology:

Ø     showing video or graphics that will help clarify concepts and excite their imaginations!

o      using technology to expand the kinds of activities students can do in regards to a subject 
like a literary map on Google maps to help the setting come to life

Ø     facilitating parent-teacher communication

o      email, weekly/monthly online newsletters, teacher webpage

o      facilitating teacher- student communication

o      webpage, email, EDU 2.0

o      Facilitating student- student work/collaboration

o      tools like Google docs to do group work at home

Things that shouldn't be done with technology: (with focus on my subject area, English)

Ø     replacing reading with using media

Ø     replacing face to face parent-teacher communication

Ø     small group discussions

Ø     close readings of a text

The main claim I would make about the use of technology as a learning tool is that it shouldn't ever be used to replace something but to enhance it.

Technology tools should not replace face to face human interaction, they should be used to facilitate learning by expanding the possibilities of interaction. Technology should not replace the content but be used to enhance the content.

I have reservations about the uses and reliance on technology, as you may have seen in other blogs. This is based on the tendency for tech to become distracting or from threat of it having unforeseen implications. Yet, I am definitely for using technology in ways that enhance learning for students. I want to/ must prepare them for a world I can hardly fathom because it will be so technologically integrated.  My role is to help guide and provide ways for them to interact on a human level and on a technological level.

ED Tech Tool of the Week: Google Forms (Drive)

link to notes on google drive


Here is my practice of the use of Google Forms:

Cracking the Code

There has been a huge push towards integrating technology tools into the classroom these days, and while some teachers are digging in their heels against incorporating technology in the classroom (see previous post's example of tech. mishaps, maybe for good reason), other teachers are trying their best to reach out to their students and prepare them for a digital future by wholly embracing technology in the classroom.

While we are still in the preliminary stages of the use of technology in education it is important to investigate and analyze the effectiveness in promoting learning. Using a pretty rudimentary tool, a rubric, teachers can develop certain standards by which to measure the effectiveness of a technology tool in their classroom. Kris Campea, an 8th grade English teacher wrote a blog post about her troubling with the idea of how to use Twitter in the classroom, as a classroom communication facilitation tool. Before implementing Twitter she thought about how much work it would be to set up in order to be able to monitor what her students were actually using the tool for. She then discovered a different tool called TodaysMeet that would allow her to let her students use the Twitter format (140 characters) and participate in a dialogue forum online. Using a rubric we developed in class, I evaluated TodaysMeet as a tool to promote student learning. The rubrics' criteria ranks three types of learning tasks that would happen in an ELA classroom along three of the levels of Bloom's Taxonomy.  TodaysMeet is a very interesting tool (you can learn more about it here) it serves the same purpose as a tool like twitter would, in allowing students to engage in online communication with each other and/or the teacher. The use of the tool for basic back and forth communication ranks low on the Bloom's taxonomy criteria yet if the teacher uses this tool and projects the forum as a live stream in the classroom, the students have a chance to have to varying levels of analysis in conversation, then the tool facilitates more higher level thinking- ranking it higher according to the rubric's criteria.

Overall, TodaysMeet is an inventive tool I could see myself using in the classroom, yet I would not rely on it solely. I think that other tools should also be incorporated in order to facilitate higher level thinking and learning.

On "Reinventing the Wheel"

I decided to name my blog "Reinventing the Wheel" because it is a phrase I have heard often upon entering the teaching community. Usually, the conversation goes something like:

Frustrated and tired Teacher Candidate:  "Ugh, I don't know about this lesson! Will this engage the students enough? Do I incorporate different methods of learning and instruction? How will I assess their learning in a  measurable  and meaningful way?"

Savvy Veteran Teacher: "Dont worry about it, kid! You will do great! Its not like you are reinventing the wheel."

What does this phrase mean exactly? Dictionary.com suggests that this figure of speech means "to make unnecessary or redundant preparations".  The general feeling of the phrase is that there is nothing new or original to be done, and it is usually said in a derisive manner. It falls under the category of phrases like "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Basically at it's core is the belief that there is nothing to be improved upon. Any "new" or "fascinating insight" you bring has already been done before. So why try?

When should the wheel be reinvented? That is really a tough question. The following are some examples of times when it might be the right move:

* When something obviously needs improvement. Maybe it was great at one time, but it doesn't currently meet the need or help accomplish the mission in the most efficient and effective manner. 

* When someone has an idea that might improve it (whatever "it" is), even if it is working. If the improvement helps make it better, cheaper, easier to use or maintain, or improves the efficiency, why not use the idea?

* When someone has a new and innovative idea. If the idea will lead to a better product or process of some kind that is needed or useful, reinvention may be worthwhile.
* When the dollar and time constraints aren't there. This doesn't happen often, but it is in the realm of possibility.  

(adapted from "Two sides of reinventing the wheel."Defense Acquisition University Press. thefreelibrary.com)

With respect to technology in education, I think it is about time to "reinvent the wheel." The education system clearly could use some revamping/reimagining. Maybe the old system once worked, but in this day and age its not properly preparing our students for the rapidly changing future. Even though there are successes in the education system, why not implement technology to help potentially make the system better, easier to use, and more efficient? This acceptance and experimental phase may lead to even greater advancements and outcomes that we might not even be able to conceive at this moment in time. Although technology devices cost quite a bit up front, the cost of brick and mortar tools/devices are just as costly. In other arenas the price of using technology is very little and might help to lower the overall cost of education.

Therefore, the goal of this blog is to explore the ins and outs, the ups and downs, the pros and cons of technology in education, in order to see if we can really reinvent the wheel.

Accessibility Of Technology: Students/Teachers

The English teacher began class by telling the students a story about her experience with technology. She began by explaining her goal for Sunday night was to finish grading all of their summary essays, so that they could have a sense of where they stood before back to school night. The students had been instructed to access the prompt and rubric on the website EDU 2.0. Then they were to read and article, write a summary, and submit it online through EDU. The teacher went home and found out that her internet was down, and would be for a long time. She was frustrated at first but then began to think, that if she couldn't grade papers she might as well watch her favorite show and relax. She then realized that she watches her favorite show on Netflix and therefore couldn't even do that. She concluded by saying that because the internet was down and we rely on it for so many different reasons she ended up going to bed by 8:30 that night.

The students all thought this was funny and relatable, because of the many mishaps we have when technology fails in the classroom. We then posed the query to them and asked what their stories about technology were. How did they use it? Why? When?
I followed up with a survey made up of questions like: how many hours do you spend online? What devices do you own/use? and for what purposes. How many texts do you send a day? What sites do you frequent? How often do you utilize technology in the classroom?

All of these questions related to the unit they were about to begin. Learning how to read and mark nonfiction articles centering around technology. 

The students answers were pretty typical and possibly shocking. The amount of time spent online was astounding in some cases.  Over 5 hours!? When asked follow up questions the students would clarify, by saying they use Pandora or Spotify to listen to music for extended periods of time. Others were avid gamers. The answers varied of course. Some led to other questions like, do your parents regulate your use of technology or limit your access to the internet. Some did and others let the students self regulate. The majority of the students when asked what tool they use most listed their phone. Even those who didn't have a computer usually accessed the internet via smartphone. They listed, Instagram, YouTube, tumblr, Pinterest and Facebook as their most frequented sites, but explained they also used their devices to access the schools educational network, EDU 2.0 to check grades, homework and communicate with teachers.  Students also reported that they use their devices in school only when allowed (I know for a fact this is not true. I have viewed several vines via student's phones...) but I thought it was nice that they at least knew when they should/could use their devices.

The concept of EDU 2.0 is an interesting one to me. This website's function is like that of  Gauchospace - a site familiar to UCSB students. It is like the Facebook of education; a place where students parents and educators can all go to get connected to what is going on in their classes. Many teachers post everything they did in class that day along with homework assignments and other resources all online.  This can be a wonderful tool for students, especially when they are sick or absent. It can also work in the teacher's favor as well. The downsides are time and accessibility, and dependence.  I have heard many teachers' gripes about using the system and the amount of time and effort it takes to actually post everything you did in class that day if you don't already have a digital copy.  In addition to my teacher's anecdote, students also have trouble accessing the website sometimes as well. Finally, a problem I have seen is that students will complain that they didn't write down the homework in class and the teacher (who has announced her disuse of EDU to the class) didn't post the homework online, therefore they didn't know what to do. I call this dependence/lethargy.

It is clear that technology has begun to naturally become a part of the classroom, whether educators like it or not. The important question for them to answer is, "how do we capitalize on it?" How can technology become a facilitator of learning rather than an inhibitor?
I would like to make the use of technology in my classroom a norm but only when I feel comfortable with managing/regulating its use, and with an understanding of the students ability to access the technology we are using.