Monthly Archives: June 2017

My vision for the technology enhanced classroom – 3 important facets.

The term “Mindtools” and how they are used in a classroom setting described by Jonassen (2011) best mirrors my ideal vision of how technology can be used to enhance a learning experience in the classroom.

I believe that technology should enhance the learning experience in 3 ways. First, technology should be used to engage and capture the learner’s attention. Use video display technology to show videos to take students out of the classroom and spark interest in a new topic, or use technology to help perform demonstrations that capture the audience’s attention. Secondly, technology use can help students make meaning of the world around them. Technology can be used to give students different visual perspectives of scientific or mathematical concepts. The use of simulations and graphing devices can give students hands on experience and allow teachers a better way to engage in constructivist practices. Finally, technology in the hands of the teacher can allow for different modes of assessment, as adaptive learning technology improves, teachers can utilize technology to better determine student deficiencies and misconceptions and help the teacher plan strategies, or better allot lesson time to address student concerns and problems.

Jonassen, D. H. (2000). Computers as mindtools for schools, 2nd Ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill/ Prentice Hall. Retrieved from Google Scholar: http://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Jonassen+mindtools&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&btnG=Search

Mindtools

I felt that David Jonassen’s description of Mindtools ” digital tools that support knowledge construction, exploration, learning by doing, learning by conversing, and learning by reflecting” (Jonassen, D. H. 2000),perfectly encapsulates what designers of learning experiences should aspire to. Now more than ever our consumer based society is shoving technology in our faces to view and use. Technology is often overlooked as a tool to create and is seen as a device to consume. The DIY/Maker/OpenSource movement moves in a counter direction to the corporate controlled environment that surrounds us. It is our duty as teachers to help our students not only understand how to create with technology but to educate them on how technology works.

I am currently moving my grade 5 class away from segmented core subjects into a more interdisciplinary station approach. I usually use direct instruction to introduce the general base components of each stations. I cannot be in all places at once so I have been building web pages using wix to help build a structured approach around each station. For example I have a 3D printing station, raspberry Pi station, VR/AR station and robotics station. Each station has its own website that guides the students from basic steps to a self regulated approach where they begin to branch into individual areas of interest. All stations are linked back into google drive and their own personal wix website where they place their assignments and projects. We end in a passion project attached which incorporates all of the stations. I hope I can I can continue to build on my students digital literacy and my understanding of how it can enhance their learning.

Reference

Challenges, Learning, Misconceptions

The interviewee, Lisa, is a teacher and educational technology coordinator of an international school in Bangkok Thailand. In addition to these duties, she teaches grade 7 language arts. She has been with the school for 7 years and has held the formal title for the last 3 years. Over the course of these years, she has been heavily involved in the growth of the school. Below is a summary of our interview, split into specific points.

Challenges

One of the main challenges talked about was that of consistency when you are doing the job in an international setting. Many new teachers come in every year and there is a sense of “starting over” in terms of getting full teacher buy into the programs used. Lisa also discussed at length the issue of time. In a job that is not always well understood it can be difficult to manage her time and monitor and encourage the other teachers effectively. She also noted that admin support is a crucial element in the success of the job. When admin is supportive and helps to enforce the importance of the job it increases the chances for success greatly.

Learning

Lisa indicated how important it is to understand the people you work with, realizing not everyone comes with the same passion, interest, and often times they come with preconceived notions they cannot figure the technology out. This led her away from doing professional development that was example based, to workshops where teachers did hands-on activities. This ensured that there was always a takeaway, that teacher could use. Differentiation, she learned, is important when dealing with colleagues also.

Misconceptions

The most common misconception people have about educational technology, according to Lisa, is that it is essentially the same job as an IT technician. Explaining to teachers her job doesn’t include fixing computers is a common occurrence each year.

A further misconception about tech that is often harder to manage than the belief technology shouldn’t be used is the belief technology should always be used and adds value in every instance. Truthfully one always has to evaluate every activity based on its merit and if the tech adds no value to the exercise then you need to upgrade the activity. For example putting a worksheet online into a form may be using technology but it’s still a worksheet and has the same value as it did on paper in terms of learning.

Mentorship, Involved, and Collaboration

Response:
I interviewed a colleague who is currently teaching Grade 4 and is in her fifth year of teaching, with two years in contract and three years as a Teacher on Call. The colleague is female and the interview took place after school in her classroom. She describes herself as “not a techy person.”
Collaboration
Teacher’s goal is to become a learning support teacher and approached our current learning support teachers with the observation about her class “I really think that half of it because I want to be a learning support teacher and so being in this classroom and seeing kids struggle.” It was the conversations with these colleagues that “It was conversations with our learning support teachers here at school to say how can I have these students who have really showed me nothing, and have no motivation, how can I have them show me that they understand fractions, or that they understand addition, or they understand multiplication, and having those conversations was really kind of pivotal, I think, okay I am going to do this.” She shows how having people to collaborate with gave her the confidence to try and implement technology to support her vulnerable learners. The second piece was that “they gave me easy ways to put it into practice, …, at first I was a little overwhelmed with including technology but they kind of broke it down and says this is how you could show their learning in this Math unit.” Having that peer face to face time the teacher identified as pivotal in her desire to try implementing technology into her classroom.

Mentorship
Teacher was able to access in school co-teaching this year to support integration of technology in her classroom. She comments that “I think that really helped, because I was even watching her to figure out what to do and how to make it work” and shows the value of allowing a safe place for teacher to be learner as well.

Involved
Teacher introduced two projects this term using iPad’s. The first one was to demonstrate their understanding of a math concept and the second was to complete a project in Science. She comments that “the kids just soared once they figured out how to use it, and then how to go further and above and beyond with it.” This idea of keeping students involved in the process was further enhanced when she shared the success of a student that was shy to present or talk in class. The student was able to share by “all they did was touch the button and I think that takes away a lot of their fear when they share with their class.” Finally, she talked about the varied levels of each students projects but “for other kids to see that’s where you can go, it was kind of neat.”

Interpretation, Personalization, Search

The interviewee is the Director of Technology Integration at an Independent school for students ranging from Kindergarten to Grade 12. The interviewee has taught in a variety of schools both nationally and globally. The main points discussed focused on Interpretation, Personalization, and Search.

Interpretation of Data
The interviewee noted that when integrating technology into math and science, considering what applications to use to demonstrate data manipulation is a key factor. Within the disciplines of science and math using technology to analyze and present data in user-friendly ways can be better achieved through technology, ensuring that data is presented so that it can be interpreted correctly. In science, through the use of applications we can use these tools to allow students that ability to conduct activities that provide models, etc. that may not be available within the classrooms. As well, software allows students to develop their executive functioning skills, such as organization, when students learn to use tools that suit them best.

Personalization of Concepts
Within a global context, the personalization of content has evolved to be of importance within the last few years when it comes to compiling individual data that monitors students progress. Teachers are better able to use the data, or analytics of the students progress through a program, to than scaffold and personalize the lessons or areas a student needs to learn better/identify areas of weakness. Therefore, the data provided to the teacher gives the teacher a better indication of what is missing, such as low literacy, and then providing the teacher with the pathways needed to ensure the student can reach their goals. Providing a differentiated approach for individual students can be better achieved when educators use programs tailored to support the teaching and learning goals intended in science and math courses.

Search
When considering what tools to use when integrating technology into a lesson plan can be overwhelming now that choice is endless, especially when companies are targeting to niche markets/areas of focus.Companies are now targeting their program towards a specific area; learning how to rank, evaluate and validate tools for a particular lesson is critical. For students, they also need to learn how to search, finding what they want, and evaluating if the source is valid. This goes for content and when deciding what tool to use. When educators know what their intended goal is for the students to achieve, they need to evaluate the right tools for the requirement. Using use cases or business cases is the way to achieve this. However, in terms of productivity, if this tool can be used across grades, there is better success for this tool to be used (adopted) and find success.

Search Part II
Students need to learn how to define, and redefine questions while searching. Developing computational thinking within students is important when determining what tool to use to find the information. Students need to learn how to code the computer (e.g. code, keywords, excel) in order to efficiently find the information they think they are looking for. Students often expect to log on and immediately find what they are told to find without thinking about the process of how they will best arrive at these answers without considering their plan of action first.

High-Tech and Low-Tech

Design of TELEs

My definition of technology is similar to that of Roblyer & Doering (2012) in that technology is anything that we use (our tools) to solve problems in our environment, in conjunction with the skills needed in the application of these tools. We often refer to items as high-tech (a 3D printer) or low-tech (cardboard). These technological tools can all be utilized to solve some identified problem, but the tools themselves render useless, unless we have some meaningful knowledge base behind how to use them.

My ideological design of a TELE for science would be one where student needs are put at the center, and that takes a constructivist approach to knowledge acquisition. The TELE would engage students, tie into their background knowledge, and pique their interest in new areas. This would be accomplished by utilizing a variety of “tools” or pieces of technology at differing complexities that would facilitate the acquisition of knowledge. The goal of the Science course/assignment should be clarified, as this would likely drive the type of technology that would be needed. I do not believe that TELEs should be centered on the “technology” aspect so much as what the technology can do to enhance the learning experience of the student. In addition, we must also keep in mind educator comfort and availability of technology.

Reference:

Roblyer, M. D., & Doering, A. (2012). Integrating educational technology into teaching. (6th ed.). Pearson Education.

Different Styles, Support, Uses

Sorry about the late post. It was a little hard for me to find a colleague to interview as I don’t currently work in a school nor with teachers who teach Math, Science or at all, and those I knew who did so aren’t in Canada. But I did manage to get some perspectives from tutors I work with on weekends.

I looked at asking them what they thought about using technologies in Math and Science classrooms, for teaching, for pedagogies, and difficulties.

Interviewee Sam, is a Secondary school teacher, who teaches full time at an International School. She teaches International Students from all over the world English, Math, Science, and Psychology. Below is a short abstract of her answers for each of the concepts I focused on.

Uses

Do you use technology in your Math and Science classes?
How do you implement or integrate technology into your classroom?
What are some new technologies that you would like to start using in your science and math classroom?

Sam found that she used technology in Science class more than she would in Math. She uses technologies like Powerpoint, Videos, Digital Documents, Cameras, and overhead projectors in her classrooms. Very simple and easy to use technologies to simplify uses. However, if given a chance she wouldn’t mind trying any program that would help her demonstrate concepts, for example, the Smartboard.

Different styles

Do you think that the students do better with the technologies integrated into your lessons?

Sam agrees that technologies do help with learning. It gives the teacher a chance to try different teaching pedagogies and allows her to help students learning in various methods.

Support

Does your administration support technology integration in your school? Do you feel you need to be an expert to integrate technology into the classroom?
What are your biggest concerns when using technologies in the classroom to teach Math or Science?

Tech Support is important and crucial to the success of the implementation into classrooms. However, to Sam, though she knows that her school supports the use of technologies, she often thinks it’s a bit over her head. Her greatest concern is her lack of knowledge of the technology and feels that only experts can integrate technologies into the classroom.

Change in Thinking, Availability (and Plan B), Openness

Interview

Teacher A: Male, teaching Grade 8 (Math, Science, French) in a Middle School, has been teaching for 12 years. The interview took place after school in the Learning Commons of the Middle School.

3 summary key points:

Change in Thinking

Teacher A believes that technology enhances the classroom and his teaching experience. However, “My students have access to the Internet which is full of information, not knowledge. They need to change their thinking to take the information and make it into something or apply it in some way”. Students are not longer looking for a right or wrong answer. His students are encouraged to take this information and change it into knowledge of some form. They would be able to communicate their understanding in a new dimension, or using different platforms to represent what they have learned.

Availability (and Plan B) – The Ugly Reality

The physical availability of technology in our Middle School. With close to 1000 students, there is not enough technology to go around. Teacher A exhibits frustration with having planned an engaging lesson utilizing technology, only to find that the booking system glitched, another teacher taking the tech, or having to spend time running around our school to find the carts when they were not returned. Teacher A is also located in a portable that does not have a ramp, so students have to carry the tech in (often in the rain). Problems with Wi-Fi and teachers’ inability to problem-solve technical issues as much of it is controlled at the District level, and not the school level, also add to his frustration. If he had access to the technology, he could plan which Apps to use and ask students for their input as to which ones to use. Teacher A also expressed how tired he was of often having to organize a “Plan B” and preparing for worst-case scenarios – no tech.

Openness

Even with his current frustration with technology at school, Teacher A is still willing and open to try something new and incorporate technology in his classes. He enjoys the flexibility that technology allows, the opportunities for students to show their learning in different ways, and to learn and apply skills that “they will use more in the next 20 years”.

Adaptive, Misuse, Support

Interviewee J has been a teacher for close to 20 years in a mixture of Science and Math classes from the junior to senior levels. Interviewee D has been a teacher for 5 years, and has experience mostly in Physics and Mathematics at the senior level.

The interview was conducted over email, which allowed for asynchronous response and made the information easier to process by the interviewer.

Adaptive

The first of the three themes that I noticed with the two interviewees is their experience, or desire to use technology to adapt to different student needs in order to improve engagement and learning. J mentions using technology to show videos, run lab simulations, and the use of various quizzing websites such as Kahoot & Socrative. These different pieces of technology serve to create differentiated instruction to students. Using videos to demonstrate concepts allow students who are visually based learners to the optimal opportunity to learn, while quizzing websites allow for different forms of assessment that deviates from the traditional pencil and paper method.

D has experience with similar technology but discussed the need for more adaptive learning technology that can cater more to student needs.

Misuse

Both interviewees discuss the lack of discipline on the students end when it came to doing productive work on devices. Both interviewees mentioned the need to police students to ensure that they are on task while given opportunity to work. D mentions the need for the school to create policies to control bandwidth or block undesired web traffic to prevent inappropriate use of technology.

Support

Both teachers thought that the best way that a school or institute could provide support for teachers is to increase the number of professional development opportunities and to increase the monetary investment to class sets of equipment. Both interviewees also mentioned that the improving the resources and technology available to teachers will improve the teacher’s effectiveness to use technology in their pedagogy.

Engagement, Assessment, and Aid

Mr. S is a seasoned programming instructor and college student mentor. He works for a vocational college in Vancouver and teaches various programming languages and technology certification courses. He is also a technology mentor for college students who seek career advice. Mr. S was interviewed through Google Hangout at 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 30, 2017.

Incorporating well planned and tested technology to promote better engagement

Mr. S stated that “students will be engaged more in the class by doing and participating.” He uses coding exercises utilizing free IDE editors and free online code testing tools. He also distributes his lectures through Google Docs before/after the class, so that students can preview and revisit his lectures. He cannot stress enough that we need to be cautious on when implementing technology in the classroom because technology that is not carefully evaluated, and as result misapplied, can be a huge distraction. He also emphasized that the process of implementing technology should be quick and easy, so teachers can spend more time on class curriculum than on learning the technology. He firmly believes that the most important aspect of integrating educational technology is to create learning environments in which students actively construct knowledge in cognitive partnerships with technology (Hooper & Rieber, 1995).

Incorporating technology for better assessment

Mr. S discussed how challenging it was to incorporate assessment technology in his classes due to lack of tool availability in the school. He stated, “the college doesn’t provide the budget to buy any code testing software so I need to use free online code testing tools such as jsFiddle and Coderpad.” He was quite satisfied with the free online tools and said they worked great for his courses. Mr. S stated that the results from the shared coding exercise help him assess students and decide whether they need more tailored programming and supplemental activities.

Aid in gender and cultural differences

Mr. S discussed how helpful it was to implement individual weekly chat sessions using Skype/Google Hangout to remove cultural and gender barriers. He stated that “some students are very shy to ask questions in front of the class, so they prefer to use the chat session.” He added individual chat session worked well with female students as well as with students who hesitate to ask questions in public for cultural reasons. MR S. also mentioned that “This approach only works because the class size is small (15-20 students max).” He wouldn’t be able to offer students such sessions when class sizes are large.

In conclusion, Mr. S firmly believes that a well-designed and well-planned technology incorporation process is key for successful technology implementation in the classroom.

Reference:

Hooper, S. & Rieber, L.P. (1995). Teaching with technology. In A.C. Ornstein (Ed.), Teaching: Theory into practice (pp. 154-170). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon.