EDUC 6713 Final Reflection

In this course, I have greatly learned some valuable perspectives into the education industry. This course has allowed me to push my own limits of my practice. Using Technology in the right manner that it was conceptualized, I am allowed to make sure that my instruction adequately meets the needs of all my students (from the general median to the exceptional student included within my classroom).

The progress has also allowed myself to make sure that I challenge and push students in different unique methods. Using the Problem-Based Learning approach, students are tied into the content of my curriculum by using real-world problems that the students can relate with in some manner. This approach also provides the student with a creative approach to guide their own learning and method to solving the problem that they are introduced to in-class. Ultimately this places further responsibility upon the student for their learning outcome rather than the teacher them self. This responsibility feeds the student to have a greater sense of how to use the technology tools in an educational role with an ethical manner. No longer would they perceive the tools as a method to flirt with their friends, but an avenue to accomplish great projects.

Lastly when the students are tied into the materials in this manner, they are appropriately meeting the standards put forth by the International Society of Technology Education for quality learning experiences. In my future, I will reflect on these standards and my experiences with this course and the GAME plan I developed and make sure that I am consistently improving my pedagogy for the benefit of my students.

GAME Plan in reference to NETS

The GAME plan for this course adequately allows our students to meet the technology standards as required by the International Society for Technology in Education. The project allows them plenty of freedom to lead their own learning in the problem based format of instruction. Such an idea fosters creativity among the class to determine the appropriate method to completing the project. Students also communicate via a 21st century industrial method in terms of a social online wiki. In compiling information on their wiki, they gain the background knowledge of their project by completing extensive research. By utilizing their research, they will determine the answers to the main questions of their project using critical thinking skills. The students will also create an ethical technology laden news episode which portrays their scientific findings to their peers. All of these ideas adequately meet the NETS-S standard which may be found here:

http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForStudents/2007Standards/NETS_for_Students_2007_Standards.pdf

Revising my GAME Plan

In this course I have learned how to differentiate my instructional methods to most effectively educate my students. In my classes a goal is to start incorporating various technology resources to further accomplish this task. In the NETS-T, I plan on tackling this issue by learning and modeling its use in the classroom before instructing the students on its usage. One technology resource I intend on using in the classroom in this manner is by podcasting. The students could verbally communicate on projects via this tool as they collaborate together on their various projects and I'm excited to see them being implemented with their activities.

Evaluating the GAME Plan

In the progression of my GAME Plan in EDUC 6713, I have reflected upon the following questions as they guide me in completing the necessary tasks for the course.

-How effective were your actions in helping you meet your goals?
One of my goals was to learn new assessment tools to use in the classroom that will measure another dimension of my students' learning. By using more open-ended short answer questioning within my laboratory reports that I newly expect of my students, I realize that the students are further challenged by demanding a higher ordered level of intelligence as they explain their answers.

-What have you learned so far that you can apply in you instructional practice?
So far I have learned how to diversify my instruction so that I realize how to reach the needs of not just the general student within my courses but the exceptional student that required individualized instruction.

-What do you still have to learn? What new questions have arisen?
As I have discussed in previous blog entries, I do notice that a digital storyboard activity is a necessary component of our GAME plans. I am critical and pessimistic that my current plan will not be conducive for the students to use one in their projects. I am interested in learning how to use such a tool in my classes and what projects would be best geared in using such resources as a component of the project assessment.

-How will you adjust your plan to fit your needs?
In the future I do have strong intentions to use a different problem based learning activity that is more conducive to using a digital storyboard program and software. As much as I love the alternative energy project that I proposed in the past, it is my intuition that there might be another activity and unit plan that will better fit the needs of this course. I am highly contemplating switching the GAME plan to the forensic mystery of the softball pitcher's death due to electro-static activity.

Monitoring the GAME Plan

As an update on the GAME plan I will answer the following questions to notify all my fellow cohort colleagues and instructor of Walden EDUC 6713 of my project progress.

-Are you finding the information and resources that you need?
Yes I am.

-Do you need to modify your action plan?
I may change my action plan to a project that may allow a digital storyboard lesson for it. Currently with my energy project, I'm having difficulty coming up with a digital storyboard lesson that will fit with it and looking forward into the course I realize it's a necessary component in the project's assessment.

-What have you learned so far?
So far I have learned how to diversify my lesson plans for those with exceptional needs and to choose the correct assessment for the right unit of study.

-What new questions have arisen?
If you notice two questions prior, I have completed storyboards in class before just never in a digital situation. It will be interesting to learn the software that will allow the students to accomplish this task.

Carrying out my GAME Plan

In reflection with regards to the preparation of my GAME Plan it is apparent that I will need various resources to aid me in carrying out the lesson activity. In order to guide my students in their research it would be beneficial if they could search out and possibly interview renewable energy researchers and industrialists to learn the latest trends in the technology. I do realize that this might not be possible for my students to complete before the conclusion of the project. So in response to this likely dilemma I've compiled the following websites that the students can utilize as their springboards into the research required for their alternative energy projects.

US Department of Energy:

http://www.energy.gov/

Energy Information Administration:

http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/kids/

US Geological Survey:

http://energy.usgs.gov/

Energy Resources International

http://www.energyresources.com/

If there are any other online sites that any of my cohort peers would recommend, I would be extremely appreciative! Thanks!

EDUC 6713 GAME Plan

During this progress of this course, it is my desire to improve upon my students creativity in the physics curriculum. Too often within a given physics course, everything is cut and dry with facts and concepts that were already studied upon in the previous centuries of scientific exploration. Many laboratory assignments are only designed for students to simply repeat these explorations conducted by previous researchers and scholars of yesteryears.

My goal is to create a final project where students discuss the efficacy of alternative energy forms over the United States' high use of fossil fuels. Conducting their research in small groups they must choose an energy form that interests them and find out if it would be feasible (economically, socially, environmentally) for the US to switch to high use of that energy form or source. The analysis and research is highly open-ended and the students are allowed to use creativity in this approach. This concept addresses ISTE standard number one. After compiling their research students will use a wiki website to organize their information and debate within their own group dynamics whether or not their energy source is a viable solution to the US's energy problem. By using this tool and working in their small groups in this manner, the students will be learning new valuable skills that are heavily prevalent in the 21st Century workplace where it is quite common that decent project management skills are required. This tool and activity highly addresses the second ISTE standard. I will monitor the students progress in the month long project as an administrator on their wiki site and will develop a rubric that the students will be familiar about before starting the project. At the conclusion of the activity I will let the students evaluate its delivery on my part via an online survey so I can make future improvements for oncoming years.

EDUC 6712 Reflection

In the course of EDUC 6712, it was apparent of how much I need to aid my students in focusing their research efforts in the projects that I require for my class. Today's digital world requires the student to utilize an inner filter system in order to choose what is and what is not meaningful content to be organized into a research project. If students do not learn how to critically do this, not only will they underperform on a given assignment, the students will underperform in life as well. They will be vulnerable to anything that they come across with no way to pre-filter out potential risks.

EDUC 6711 - Final Reflection

Upon review of my earlier theory of learning that I wrote for this particular course, I would not say there would be much that I would change or revise in that theory. I believe that my instruction should by wholly student centered and that I should focus all my efforts in creating lesson plans that are highly engaging and effective in student learning.

I did learn a new set of ‘tricks of the trade’ that I would love to share with my students while taking this particular Walden course. From this course, I would love to have my students use the VoiceThread online application tool. I really can envision using the video capability of this particular tool to provide sample mathematical homework solutions to the students while the students could provide feedback to me with their own questions and comments all remotely from home. This would be a great goal of mine to complete hopefully one full VoiceThread per month of instruction for the first academic year, and increase that output to at least two full submissions every week by the fifth academic year.

Another tool that I aim to use with my students is the online concept-mapping tool. Quite often my students struggle in developing a concrete main idea that is supported by tangible facts and ideas, simply because they cannot organize their thought process. With my alternative final assessment projects I can use this tool to aid my students get over the initial hump of organization block. It is my goal to implement this tool with one of my projects with the first academic year, and to increase that output to all my projects that I complete with my students by the fifth academic year.

Cooperative Learning

In the ideas explored with the EDUC 6711 course authors this week, there are great tools available for teachers to utilize in order to help students perfect their collaborative abilities as well. The authors recommend that students work together on spreadsheet software or webquests for research (Pitler et al, 2007). Although traditionally students must have been physically present in the same environment to socialize and collaborate on a common set of projects, certain technology tools are available where students can share a common digital space, which replaces the actual physical one. For an alternative final assessment, I allow my students to work collectively in small groups to determine if a certain form of alternative fuel would be suitable to replace the high use of chemical fossil fuels. The students collaborate online using a wiki database hub, to compile their research and thoughts. Students can login form their home computers where they can contribute to the project at a time that is convenient to them.

 

After collaborating online the student groups organize the information to be presented to their peers via their submitted wiki sites. On my course website I place all the links to the wiki sites, where students conduct their own peer review of the submitted recommendations. Students must peer review and comment on at least two other wikis before the conclusion of the project – quite similar to the Walden discussion setup.

 

The students in my physics section love this alternative final assessment at the end of the school year, not only because it’s not a traditional individual final exam, but it allows them to socialize and collaborate with their peers while contemplating and debating a topic which has a special meaning for all of them.

 

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

VoiceThread

Check out my voice thread for my current problem in my 7th hour physics class!

http://voicethread.com/share/521851/

Constructivism/Constructionism Article

In the ideas explored with the EDUC 6711 course authors this week, there are great tools available for teachers to utilize in order to help students perfect their constructive abilities as well. In order to foster these constructive skills, students must have the freedom to choose whatever outlet that best suits them to accomplish a simple task or larger project. That is where technology opens up a larger set assortment of methods and tools for students to express their knowledge.

 

For students to utilize different methods of technology to express their learning on a subject I allow all my students to present the final projects of the course year in one of the following formats: podcast, powerpoint, wiki site, or blog site. By using such tools the students can build their projects in the manner they deem fits their lifestyle and reflects who they are in their own personal communication characteristics. In the past, students have commented how much they love that freedom of academic expression and I am excited to learn more options to offer my students in the future from this particular course as well.

 

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Cognitivism Tools

In the ideas explored with the EDUC 6711 course authors this week, there are great tools available for teachers to utilize in order to help students perfect their cognitive abilities as well. Technology includes a wide range of resources that can aid students in visually planning their cognitive processes to complete a given project. By utilizing concept mapping software to compile their thoughts in a project plan, it is easier for students to organize their thought process as they complete a given project. Students can also complete this task through a video organizer with streaming feeds such Google Video (Pitler et al, 2007). During my own alternative final project my own students utilize google video to compile a record of their thoughts, then eventually editing those ideas into a logical comprehensive report on their project that they will present to the class.

 

For completing note taking within the classroom EDUC 6711 course author’s recommend that students learn the ability to filter quality from subpar information and that teachers should provide an outline copy of the course notes to the students within the classroom (Pitler et al, 2007). I complete numerous keynote presentations in my class whenever I introduce any new topic to my students. I do complete these activities a little different from other teachers though. From day one I tell my students not to take at all during these activities and merely sit back and soak in the conversation. This way they are not distracted about the recording of the information presented, but can cognitively absorb the information being discussed. Also the students can more readily participate in the keynote discussion. Afterwards I post all the slides of the keynote presentation to my course website where the students may download the presentation to their own computers to review the presented material at their own leisure. I highly believe that these measures effectively help my students cognitively absorb the challenges of the physics curriculum.

 

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Behaviorism in Practice

In the ideas explored with the EDUC 6711 course authors this week, there are great tools available for teachers to utilize in order to help students monitor, assess, diagnose, and correct their instructional behavior. Technology includes a wide range of resources that can aid in these tasks and places more responsibility of their behavior in the hands of the students. By utilizing spreadsheet software that is integrated with a behavior assessment rubric, students can self-monitor their progress on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis (Pitler et al, 2007). Every student’s assessment period also allows for students to learn the connections between their own efforts in the classroom and the rewards or consequences for those efforts as well as they tally up the points for their behavior during that given grading period. With an effort measured against achievement spreadsheet chart, students can see the relationships between the two, which is often difficult for many to realize inside of the classroom. There are also online surveys that teachers may utilize to collect the necessary data for students to analyze their classroom behavior and effort into the curriculum.

This week the EDUC 6711 authors also make light on a challenging topic in the classroom of homework. Homework should be purposeful to the given course and it should be commented on for feedback in a timely manner (Pitler et al, 2007). It should offer some variety as well to the course structure and this is the purpose of utilizing technological tools in the classroom. Through my own discussion board posting, I introduced an online homework database hosted by the University of Texas at Austin, which provides immediate feedback to the students once they submit their answers to the software. From the program, students can self troubleshoot their erroneous problem solving processes and make internal corrections to their processing skills. In addition to my original discussion post, I found out in a previous Walden course that students may complete a group project with a wiki program to compile the groups’ thoughts and research into their projects. The collaboration involved teaches students that completing such projects at home does not constitute cheating at all really, but how to utilize their partners’ strengths effectively within the given group.

Through this week’s learning resources it is obvious that technology aids in a students learning and effectively teaches them good behavior practices with their education. Any teacher should complete more research into all the tools involved in order to help their students gain more personal accomplishments.

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Final Reflection for EDUC 6710

This course provided me with courage to finally explore the many different tools available on the World Wide Web. In my past I always heard about Web 2.0 applications yet I never had that much experience with those tools and was quite frankly intimidated with integrating them into my own classroom. The applications included in this course were blogs, podcasts and wikis, yet it is quite easy to realize the potential for more unknown Web 2.0 tools in the future. This course forced me to utilize these three applications in a new educational arena. From using these tools, it is quite easy to see how 21st Century skills can be accomplished by turning the classroom from a teacher centered environment to one that is more student centered. In such a setting student achievement will greatly improve as the students will have a larger value of ownership on the content material, and they will be much more engaged in the classroom. Also, today’s work place is highly technological and the employees in that work environment have a large amount of responsibility thrown on their shoulders to lead the company in new innovative directions. Today’s engaging and student centered learning environment, which allows for copious collaboration among peers, should be able to prepare those students for those future occupational roles.

Currently my school has little access to computers within the school day. It is true that a large majority of my students do have access to personal computers at home. Yet when reviewing the course DVD segments, I am quite jealous to see how all these other teachers get to teach using computers in their own classroom environment and I do not have access to such similar resources at my school. In the future it is my responsibility to convince the administration, other colleagues, the parents of the importance of using such resources in the classroom setting as well. My hope is that I will be able to obtain these resources in the classroom environment in the near future for the betterment of my students. A second goal of mine is to utilize these new tools in collaborative Web 2.0 projects, using a wiki as the small group hub for student collaboration. In my courses students do complete research for a variety of projects, but it is of high importance that I use such a tool to prepare my students for their own futures.

Education Podcast!

Check out my education technology podcast!

Click here to my podcast site!

Note... original posted on 2/3/09, corrected on 2/9/09

21st Century Skills

In this week’s application assignment, the partnership for 21st century skills, which may be found at (www.21stcenturyskills.org), provides advocacy and guidance to those involved in the education field to supplement their instruction with the skills and tasks deemed essential for success in the current and future economy. In my classroom, I strive to utilize these tasks on a weekly if not daily basis. It is rather surprising and helpful to know that the website references its common goals of these tasks to some of the states’ initiatives in education. What I have to disagree with is only that my own home state (Illinois) unfortunately does not buy into the Route 21 system. Thus it may be more difficult for me unfortunately to tailor my instruction to the goals of a 21st century education along with my own state’s educational standards. If I was to follow one plan more rigorously than the other in my curriculum, I might incorrectly skew the directives of my instruction. Nevertheless, the implications of this site into the educational arena allows for all those involved, to have some sort of guideline map and resource hub, to gather ideas utilizing 21st century leaning tasks and effectively present them to their students.

Blogs in the Classroom

Hello all! Stephen Hogan here and I'm a fourth year physics teacher at John Hersey High School located in Arlington Heights, IL.

Speaking about the use of blogs in the classroom setting, I currently utilize a blog already with my physics students. Please take a look at it during your leisure and it may be found at one of the top tabs on my following course website:

http://web.me.com/sphogan

As you can observe while viewing the blog I am currently only using it for the very basics of its intention as a running diary of all the daily activities in my two physics courses. My students rely on it whenever they are absent for the day to catch up on what was covered for the day, or if they happened to forget to write down the homework assignment, the students may find the posted assignments there if necessary. For that purpose the site is quite useful as my students love an opportunity to connect with the course tasks whenever they happen to be away.

Yet, I currently do not allow my students to participate in a discussion of the events or post to the blog. I attempted to do this with my students during the blog's infancy, but it was common during that time span that high schoolers being the teenagers that they are, loved to post not so appropriate items to the blog. This required a large amount of additional time by myself, monitoring the discussion thread and omitting inappropriate items related to the course material. I might try this once more with the blog on my course website in the future, perhaps when the technology develops where the blog could filter out its own inappropriate content.

A pretty cool site for some pretty cool demos!

http://groups.physics.umn.edu/demo