TechQuest - Project Description

Educational Need

One major problem within my personal practice is that I find it very difficult to provide students with meaningful feedback on completed projects or in the early stages of serial ongoing assignments. Common pacing guides restrict the amount of time that can be directed toward any individual subject. This often causes teachers to rush through the content and omit doing a thorough review because it would put them behind pace.

I believe that one-on-one conferences with students are essential, especially in my discipline of social studies. But they are time drainers. If I had a class of 30 students it would still take over a class period (perhaps more) to have just a three minute sit down with every student. I simply cannot devote that amount of time without falling behind the pace. However, to not provide that kind of quality feedback will cause many of my students to be left behind anyway.

The Role of Technology

To address the educational need, the chosen technologies will need to do the following:

·         Provide meaningful feedback to students on an individual basis.

·         Offer a personalized experience for both the teacher and student. Trying to come as close to an in person meeting as possible.

·         Reduce or even eliminate the amount of in-class time spent on providing teacher-to-student feedback.

·         A real concern is going to be prep time. The solution cannot be to merely record what would be said to the student and then allow them to view it on their own time. This only frees up in-class time at the expense of the teacher’s personal time/prep time.

Research & Resources

1.       The very first resource that got me thinking about implementing a technology solution to the feedback problem was a blog post about using Jing to assess online student writing. I never even thought of using Jing in this way. This technique would provide a very personal experience because the teacher’s voice would be included, almost like the teacher and student we’re sitting side by side. Since Jing captures all desktop activity it can offer interaction directly with the student’s work. The technology advantage is that it makes this process asynchronous, allowing the teacher to compose the feedback during prep time.

a.       Questions to be further explored:

                                                               i.      How will students be able to ask clarifying questions about the teacher’s feedback?

                                                             ii.      Will composing the feedback with Jing save the teacher any time, or make the teacher more effective?

                                                            iii.      When will the student view this feedback? Will they be given in-class time? Will they be expected to view it on their own time? What should be done to insure accountability?

2.       I read a blog post entitled Bowling with Your Eyes Closed: Students Need True Formative Assessment. After the Jing blog post I was looking for other technology application tutorials that could offer more methods of providing feedback… I had great difficulty finding any. However, reading this blog post reminded me that I need to explore the pedagogy in finer detail so that I know exactly what I’m looking for a technology to do.
In the post, bowling is used as an analogy in comparison to daily student work. Both are repetitious activities, but repeated repetition doesn’t necessarily equate to improvement of skill. If a bowler is continually throwing gutter balls they are teaching themselves how to throw gutter balls. Only when they gain feedback on their game (bowler’s tips and tricks literature, personal coach, etc.) will their game improve. This is when they can reflect on what they’ve been doing and implement strategies for improvement. The same goes for students. If they are not given feedback on their work they will continue to produce future work of the same quality.
The blog post mentions the effect of seeing pins get knocked down. It’s instant feedback on the bowler’s progress. But this feedback can only be interpreted if the bowler knows WHY they got the result that they got, and how they can correct it in the future. This would help with the time factor. I must not simply give students feedback, but teach them how to assess their own work in the future. Teach them how to milk the cow. This would require significant time investment initially with diminishing time investment as the class progressed.

The Plan for Implementation

My focus for the duration of this course will be to identify technologies that can help to achieve the criteria established in The Role of Technology section of this post. Since I do not have my own classroom at this point in time, I will need to create a logical plan for accomplishing my goals to be tested in a classroom environment at a later date.

The Four Common Places of Education

·         Teacher: The teacher will be responsible for providing meaningful feedback to students in a format that is personal and easily understood. The teacher should also be concerned with maximizing the efficiency of the feedback process (time spent vs. quality of feedback). Part of this will be teaching students to reflect on their own progress so that the student can assess their future work more independently.

·         Learner: The learner will be responsible for reading/watching/internalizing feedback that is given. The learner must be equipped with the knowledge of how to apply feedback to future works.

·         Subject Matter: My plan will be designed to be used in Middle School/High School Social studies. However, these tools will be able to be adapted across the curriculum as an aide to all teachers.

·         Settings: Feedback content will need to be created during a teacher’s planning period. The environments in which students will view their feedback will vary. Initially, class time will need to be set aside to introduce this concept. However, after awhile I may be able to rely on students to engage with the feedback content on their own.

Wrapping things up

Looking back on my experiences in CEP 811, I have a lot to be proud of. Eight weeks is such a short period of time to accomplish all I have. There are plenty of things to be proud of, but I know that my accomplishments are merely building blocks upon which even greater teaching will be built upon.
The WebQuest and StAIR projects were clearly the most labor intensive, but I learned a lot of lessons during the process. Both projects encourage student exploration which is awesome. However, engaging exploration without boundaries can render your lesson largely ineffective and in some cases even put your kids in a dangerous situation. Building the WebQuest taught me that restricting internet research to a chosen list of sites can really help to focus students. The StAIR taught me to try to predict problem areas with content and create mechanisms that will provide extra assistance to students. A teacher can never think too far ahead, especially using when using technology.
Educational application of Web 2.0 has been the biggest eye opener for me. While WebQuests and StAIR’s are very powerful tech tools, they take a very long time to create. I see Web 2.0 as a digital update to classic analog classroom activity. It takes very little effort to move student notebooks from spiral notebooks to a blog format, but there are very real benefits on top of that ease.
I will take advantage of wiki’s and Google Doc’s for collaboration. I will use jing to provide dynamic feedback to my students on projects so that I do not need to use valuable class time. I will use Web 2.0 to expand my classroom beyond the classroom walls and beyond school hours. Really, there is so much that I want to do with Web 2.0… but I need to implement these tools in a logical manner.
The philosophical difference between my tech approach now after taking CEP 811 is that I start with an educational need and then think of the tools that will help me to address it. I’ve always used technology to enhance learning, never to use technology just to use it. However, using the “problem solving” philosophy allows me to maximize my instruction.
A new goal of mine going forward is to keep building upon the work that I’ve already started. I want to make my StAIR and WebQuest better than they already are and I want to continue to make new ones. As a lifelong learner I cannot be satisfied with my teaching, I must continually improve it.

Michigan Merit Curriculum Online Experiences (say it five times fast!)

After reading the Michigan Merit Curriculum Online Experience Guideline Companion Document, I am very happy with the progress that the State of Michigan is making in the way of establishing educational technology standards.
My task for my CEP 811 course was to identify one of the technologies that qualify as an online experience (according to the guidelines), and discuss how I would incorporate that technology into my own teaching. While I believe that I will eventually use most of these strategies in some shape or form as I develop my craft, there are definitely some tools that I could implement tomorrow and some that would take time to implement. For example, while I would be more than able to technically support a conference with an expert (I would have no problem setting up the conference hardware/software) I do not necessarily have a contact that I would consider an expert at this point in time. In addition, I would love to take part in a collaborative lesson with a teacher/class on the other side of the world but I need to establish a relationship with that teacher before that reality is even fathomable. Thus, the strategies I must focus on in the short term are those technologies that I need not rely on any outside influences to establish in my classroom, but have the potential to expand into a global collaborative community so that eventually we’ll be able to tap into those resources.
What I want to do most is to have my students establish their own personal blogs, serving as a digital journal for class participation. I believe the blog to a diverse communication tool because it can be used by itself for students to reflect on their thoughts, or use it as the response element in tandem with another online instructional method.
For example, I recently completed designing a WebQuest that assigned each student a member of congress to profile. Students explored both the House and Senate websites in addition to votesmart.org. Instead of writing a traditional paper in Word and then submitting it to the teacher, students create a visually attractive blog post in the style of a political blogger. If I had each student set up their own RSS reader pages, I could have students easily comment on eachother’s blogs; establishing discussion and feedback loops.
I really like utilizing these tools in a inner-connected manner like this. I think it improves the lesson itself because the different tools each add their own pedagogical advantage and it models web 2.0 use for students with real interactions. I would also say that if the teacher was able to establish a community of active bloggers within their classroom population, it would be a good building block from which to branch out and plug into a more global learning community. Opening up the doors to some of the learning opportunities that I mentioned would be difficult initially.

Google Spreadsheets

As part of the Google Docs suite, Google Spreadsheets is a remotely hosted spreadsheet application intended for collaborative works. At first glance, Google Spreadsheets is like Microsoft Excel with less toolbar capabilities and to some a less friendly user interface. But to uncover its true potential it should be viewed as a live data collector rather than for static data compilation.


My Experience
I’ve used Google Docs a great deal in the past, as far back when it was still Writely. Mostly I used Documents with classmates to take notes in college classes. Google Wave has improved upon this real-time concept and I see that as the next generation of the remote based collaborative document.
Spreadsheets I have used less frequently, but lately I have become very interested in the forms element of the application. When I have a classroom again I would really like to use forms to collect contact information from parents. Sending out forms (either via email or embedded on my website), would be both paperless and better organized than the traditional contact card method.
Something to be weary of is that if most of the information is being provided by one user, the interface is not worth the frustration. I would much rather use Excel or OpenOffice Calc if I was making a spreadsheet with very little input from others. But again, if thought of as a collaborative tool only, you can minimize this frustration.


Student Knowledge
In order for students to use this software in the classroom they will need to have a basic knowledge of spreadsheet software. Students must know that a spreadsheet is a grid with vertical columns, horizontal rows, and each individual box is called a cell. Students should know that each cell can simply hold data or hold equations that reference other cells. These equations are hidden so as to show the data seamlessly.
Students need to also be taught how to create and use forms as this is perhaps the best unique feature that Google Spreadsheets offers in comparison to other spreadsheet software.

Sharing
Spreadsheets can be shared by simply clicking on the “Share” button in the upper right corner of the spreadsheet and then choosing one of the share options (Seen at right). Collaborators can be invited via email and/or the creator can choose to make the document public and establish a web link for it.



 
Teaching Social Studies with Google Spreadsheets
Google forms can be used quite effectively for surveys which would be good for collecting opinion data. The information can be displayed graphically to the class as a whole to illustrate the range of responses. Teachers could design forms for their students to respond to, or students could create their own surveys to collect opinion data from friends, family, and community members.




Check out this two part tutorial on how to create a self-grading quiz using Google Forms:
Part I | Part II


Helping Students Collaborate
Unlike Google Documents, the collaborating benefits of spreadsheets are not as easily apparent. It will be important to model the use of forms for students, for this might be the most foreign concept.


Organization
With remotely hosted collaborative applications it is important to establish appropriate editing etiquette. Students should use comments to indicate rationale for changes. A great environment all stems from good communication. You have to be overly detailed in your statements so that there is no misinterpretation.

Web 2.0: Great possibilities for a limited classroom

I’ve required students to keep a daily notebook in my classes. It’s a great way to consolidate small class participation exercises and other classroom activities. I collect these notebooks at random. It’s a good way for me to monitor progress, especially my quiet students.
When I return to the classroom I want to try to shift some of these activities to blogs. I realize that there are some difficulties associated with this (harder to have in the classroom without a computer for everyone, I cannot assume every student will have internet access from home) but I like the organizational element of blogs. It’s easier for me to check on the blogs both because of how I can access them whenever I want and tagging makes it easy to sort out classes and assignments.
In a social studies class, discussion is especially important because opinions are what shape understanding of the content. I like the idea of extending class discussion beyond the classroom so that students can be constantly thinking about the content in small increments. Requiring students to respond to readings in their own posts, as well as commenting on posts made by their peers, will promote collaborative learning.

Wiki’s & Collaborative Constructions

This post is all about Wiki's!
Ok, maybe wiki's don't warrant an exclamation. But they can be powerful collaborative tools. Wikipedia by itself has changed the way people access information. How amazing is it that everyone can contribute their individual knowledge and research towards one single entity like that? Essentially we can synthesize all of the world’s knowledge and have full access to it as long as we have internet connectivity.
While Wikipedia has had its issues with users providing inaccurate information, I believe that it has become more consistent the longer it has been around. There is no doubt in my mind that it can continue to trend this way the longer it has to establish itself.
Today, I contributed to the John Glenn High School (Westland, MI) page on Wikipedia.
When I searched for the school, I found a stub article containing little more than a few sentences and a link to the school’s website.
Here’s what it looked like:

I had stumbled upon an e-portfolio of a former student teacher at JGHS some time back, and decided to contact Brian Galvin to ask if it would be ok to use his brief history of JGHS for the Wikipedia article.
I know that Wikipedia need not have 100% factual information, just verifiable information. But I figured since I had his email that I would extend the courtesy.
His response back was emphaitic with approval, but he also told me where he got his information from: Two teachers that had been teaching at JGHS since it opened in 1964!
As a man who loves history, I would have loved to sit in on that conversation.
Anyways… I added a history section that also was cause to add the page’s first refrences. I also looked up the geographic coordinates of the school and added those as well. Here’s a look at the changes:

After I finished with Wikipedia, I set out to create my own wiki. I must have played around with my newly created account on wikispaces for four hours before I figured out what I wanted to do: A handbook of technologies and their educational application(s).
I’m very much intrigued with the idea of pulling the outside world into my instruction, so I thought… why not pull in outside contributors?
I have friends and contacts across all career paths. Often, in conversation my friends mention something that sparks an educational idea for me. Maybe it helps a lesson or maybe it helps me to address behavioral issues… the bottom line is that it helps.
I wanted to create a wiki that focused on technology use in education that could be contributed to by individuals who have either have experience with teaching or experience with technology. This way maybe we could synthesize these areas of expertise and use technology more effectively because of it.
Right now, in order to make sure to establish a sustainable process, contributors are added by invite only. Let me know if you would be interested, and I’ll send you an invite.
Thanks for the read!

Integrating Computer-Based Instructional Objects.

When creating computer-based instructional objects the structure of your activity needs to replace hands on guidance from the teacher if you want students to use it independently. So in order to accomplish this I believe you must use some form of scaffolding to allow students to progress their learning in increments. In addition, you need to be able to engage student interest without being there to enforce it.

In order to accomplish these goals, teachers must think about what makes them effective with in-person instruction and script those lessons in great detail. Stand alone instruction should have clear expectations and give clear feedback to student responses. Students should be given access to additional instruction if they need additional help with a subject but should not be required to cover a subject to redundancy if they already understand it.

This is why teachers must learn to predict where students will have trouble, and design outlets for clarification. Teachers must use their knowledge of multiple intelligences and learning types and integrate those concepts into computer-based designs so that the student has a customized learning experience.

Here are some great Social Studies WebQuests that I've discovered:

Jamestown Online Adventure

I really like this WebQuest because it has a strong visual and hands on element with the adventure flash game. Engagement with this activity should be strong because of the game. Students use their prior knowledge of the real Jamestown colony to establish their own colony. Students must decide where they will build their colony, how they will interact with native people, and what food they will produce.
At the end of the the activity students are given an evaluation of their choices, once again by making historical connections to the original colony.

Abraham Lincoln:
Crooked Man or Just a Crooked Bow Tie?

This WebQuest is extremely well organized and is very informative. Students are asked to write a gossip article about Abraham Lincoln. The activity serves as a great biographical exploration of the 16th President. I like how the author defines the roles and responsibility of the reporters in great detail. They also restrict the resource articles to just a handful of select articles. This will help students to avoid being overwhelmed from swimming through 20 plus articles. Students will be more likely to achieve the desired results because the WebQuest is well structured and serves as a great stand alone tool because of it.