Author Archives: DANIELLE PETERS

TELE: Thinking in Meaningful Ways

My definition of technology is similar to David Jonassen (2000) because I believe that students learn from thinking in meaningful ways. Thinking is engaged by activities and hands-on learning, which can be fostered through technology. “Nothing can be taught unless it has the potential of making sense to the learner, and learning itself is nothing but the endeavor to make sense” (Frank Smith, 1978). Technology can take the form of anything that enhances student learning, provides students the opportunity to develop skills that will empower them, or allows students to share evidence of their learning.

My ideal pedagogical design of an elementary TELE centres around meeting learners needs to support differentiation, enrich learning intentions, and to transform teaching and learning. Technology needs to be viewed as a tool that provides deeper context, creative outlets, and opportunities where students take ownership over their learning. For a science curriculum, the TELE could provide virtual field trips, 3D exploration, and ePortfolio’s to post and reflect on their learning journey. Technology should provide a learning environment that supports inquiry, problem-solving, and thinking in meaningful ways, that a standard classroom could not fulfil.

References:
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

Smith, Frank. 1978. Understanding reading: A psycholinguistic analysis of reading and learning to read. New York: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston.

Meaningful, student-centered, differentiation

D has been a teacher in the Surrey School District for 4 years. She teaches primarily grades K through 3. D is currently teaching a grade 2 class at an inner-city school, which is predominantly ELL (English language learner). Our interview was a phone interview on Thursday evening. She is currently working on her Masters of Arts in Educational Leadership and Management through Royal Roads University.

D uses a web-based program called Splash Math which students can access on the iPads at home and at school. She can align it with the curriculum’s big ideas and curricular competencies they are working on in class. “As soon as I bring Splash Math into our day, the kids are highly motivated, especially because they get feedback immediately.” Roschelle et al. (2000) explains that research and teachers suggest that students who participate in computer connected learning networks show increased motivation, a deeper understanding of concepts, and an increased willingness to tackle difficult questions. D explains that Splash Math is differentiated because it is tailored to each learner’s individual needs and it takes the pressure and embarrassment that comes with being a grade or two behind. The students can attempt harder questions without the fear of failure in front of their peers.

Technology allows D to check in with each of her students through apps like Book Creator. The students can take pictures or evidence of their learning in math and science and share it with her, and then post it on their digital portfolio. “FreshGrade is my reporting style. It shows their parents, them, and me where they are this point in time. I would use that information to then change my teaching, or go back and reflect with them on that concept, or show their parents what their child needs to continue to work on at home.” Digital portfolios encourage reflection at home, encouraging students to set goals for themselves. In their life cycle unit, students are making observations and documenting the life cycle of a plant with iPads. Students make predictions and reflect on what they’ve observed. “The learning results indicate that prompting students to reflect significantly increases knowledge integration in science projects” (Davis, E. A. 2000).

One of the challenges she faces is the lack of technology at her school level. There have been push backs from senior staff who are not willing to embrace something new. She explains that the more she models how technology can enhance student learning, the more teachers are willing to dip their toe into uncharted water. In the beginning, she was hesitant to bring technology in the classroom. Her students are at the centre of her decisions when it comes to technology, so she looks for technology that supports her learners. The question she asks herself when she considers new technology is, “Is it meaningful? More recently I started working with some more technology-minded colleagues and that really helped to push me into allowing technology to be a little bit more open-ended and to use it for more inquiry purposes. I have to trust my students and promote digital literacy. I’ve gone from being somebody who was quite nervous about it, to someone who is embracing it, and as soon as I embrace it and I lose that anxiety, I’ve noticed that my students have also started to embrace it, and its helped them to develop that growth mindset as well. Using technology and making mistakes, and pushing themselves to explore things they may have not otherwise”

For science lessons, she often shows BrainPop Jr. animated clips to support all learning styles: kinesthetic, auditory, and visual. D uses technology to support inquiry, and with iPads, students are learning to research, access different websites and videos, and find answers to what’s really important to them. Technology has enhanced science in her classroom, and made inquiries more meaningful.

References:

Davis, E. A. (2000). Scaffolding students knowledge integration: prompts for reflection in KIE. International Journal of Science Education, 22(8), 819-837. doi:10.1080/095006900412293

Roschelle, J. M., Pea, R.D., Hoadley, C.M., Gordin, D.N., & Means, B.M. (2000). Changing How and What Children Learn in School with Computer-Based Technologies. The Future of Children, 10(2), 7. doi: 10.2307/1602690

 

Video Cases 5 & 8

I chose to observe video cases 5 and 8 because of their elementary context. In video case 5, I appreciated how the teacher used project based learning with technology to enhance their understanding. She mentions how technology supports the language barrier in her community of learners who are majority English language learners. She mentions that her students go onto msn, which makes me wonder how old this interview is, considering msn was popular in the early 2000’s. I also know this teacher because I took a coding workshop of hers in the Surrey school district recently, which makes me wonder what her classroom would look like today. I was amazed to see the coding quest projects she presented at the ADST robotics and coding showcase last week. Listening to her explain how technology enhances their classroom, I especially appreciated how she promotes it as a way for her students to express their understanding, rather than simply in written form. This is something I have become passionate about in my own practice. Students respond positively when have they choice, and when they have an option to share their learning outside of the typical test and written assessments. What I noticed and found distracting was how noisy the classroom was and I wonder if all of her students can focus in an environment like this. I had a hard time hearing the interviewer’s questions. She explains that her classroom is always noisy, and yet they still do awesome work, but does this benefit everyone? Or just the extroverted students? One thing she mentioned, which I also do in my classroom is use rap songs to explain understanding. My students recently learned about matter, and the rap song they learned helped them understand the concept so clearly. I would hear them quietly singing to themselves throughout the day. We use a website called Flocabulary in our class and the students love listening to different big ideas or learning intentions during our inquiry. Many students memorize the lyrics and then create their own rap video in iMovie during our Makerspace time. What I loved about this classroom was how technology was used in all subjects, and the focus wasn’t on what technology they were using, but how they could use it to support their inquiry.

In video case 8, I thought the teachers approach to brining the water cycle to life through stop motion was creative. It reminds me of the new ADST curriculum and the approach to design thinking in the classroom. In my classroom, my students use a stop motion app with a  similar process. We 3D print characters, use Lego people, and cut out different scenes. Students love the idea of creating their own animation videos, and attaching a learning intention to it creates an engaging environment of learners. She explains that using this approach goes far beyond what a textbook can offer in terms of arrows and diagrams. Stop motion animation breaks down the concept into layers and it supports her visual learners. In my classroom, we use a similar approach through Scratch Jr. We recently coded the water cycle and the students enjoyed designing and coding precipitation and evaporation. Each student approached it differently, and enjoyed sharing and teaching the other students. Some included a weather man who was coded to speak text. Others went through a number of different scenes to share their learning with the viewer. In the video attached to this case, one of the student pairs discusses how great this project is, and the other remarks on how time consuming it is. Looking at this video through a design lens, we can see that it’s set up similarly to a Makerspace, which gives students an opportunity to make, design, and create an artifact. It appears that this is happening over a large block. I wonder if it was broken up in days if the two students would have a different opinion or outlook on the time aspect.

Deeper Learning

In elementary math and science classrooms, technology can support learning intentions and big ideas when it enhances student learning or helps to personalize each students needs. In math, technology can help facilitate different groups, as in the Math Daily 3 design. Students can use apps like Book Creator to document examples of different patterns. They can use apps like Show Me, an interactive whiteboard, to share evidence of their learning. Students can watch educational videos to help them understand a concept or idea. Students are able to converse with their teacher outside of school hours for formative assessment and support. Apps like Brain Pop Jr. that provide short, animated and engaging cartoons to present a curricular competency for our visual learners. I believe these examples count as a good use of technology to support math because they enhance the meaning of big ideas and are engaging to a variety of learning styles. Student’s benefit from virtual manipulative’s and programs that correct common errors, rather then having students make the same mistakes over and over on a worksheet. Many apps provide immediate feedback for the learner.

In science, technology can support learning in a number of ways. In our life cycle unit, students took pictures of their plants daily. Being able to zoom in on the roots brought the learning to life. Students made stop motion videos to show how their plant grew daily and for greater observation. Students enjoy using technology to research and watch movies to find answers to their inquiry questions. Students use technology to create iMovies to share what they learned with the class, adding voice-overs, images, videos, and text. These are examples of enhancing learning and providing opportunities for student voice.

When technology is not replacing worksheets or being used as a ‘filler’, but rather being used to integrate meaningful experiences, it changes the way students view learning. Students are engaged, taking ownership over their learning, and we as teachers are creating environments for deeper, authentic learning.

 

A Private Universe

In A Private Universe, Heather struggles with her understanding of astronomy because of her lack of instruction in science. She has created her own theories to fill in areas she lacks understanding. As you can see evidenced in the film, she struggles with her own theories, and attempts to draw and map them out, causing her to question the validity of her claims. Confrey (1990) discusses Hawkins critical barriers of learning, claiming that “certain kinds of conceptual difficulties which students experience are indeed intrinsic to the growth of scientific understanding.” Heather’s conceptual difficulties, specifically her understanding about Earth’s orbit, have met a place where her theories will be corrected with the guidance and correct information from her teacher. She is now in a place where she can challenge her understanding, and grow in her scientific understanding.

In my experience with STEM lessons at the primary level, many students approach ‘challenges’ with conceptual difficulties. One example occurred when students were challenged to use Design Thinking to create a Rube Goldberg machine, evidencing their understanding of force and motion. Driver, Guesne, Tiberghien (1985) explain that students have constructed their own ideas and understanding, and it may seem incoherent from the teacher’s point of view. As I watched a group of boys attempting to make their marble roll up a ramp, their ideas persisted even when they were not consistent with the experimental results or my explanation. In our post discussions and reflections of weekly STEM activities, I often find that students have visually seen an idea somewhere, however they lack the conceptual understanding to make that idea work. Teachers also possess similar misconceptions about many concepts, including force and gravity, and I wonder if this is passed on in error. (Burgoon, Heddle, Duran, 2011). Even though many of the student’s ideas are being challenged, they lack the building blocks of scientific concepts to fill in the gaps, which hinders their understanding.

Technology has played a key role in my classroom to help fill the gaps that many students have. If I see a group of students struggling with a concept during a STEM challenge, I can often pull up a BrainPop video that the students can watch together. These short, visual, and entertaining clips help the students through their “highlight and fix” stage (Spencer, Juliani, 2016). It’s integral to correct the misunderstanding while it’s being challenged. Technology is instant, accessible, and engaging. I have found it to be a remarkable addition to the classroom, making learning as authentic as possible.

References:

Burgoon, J.N., Heddle, M.L., Duran, E. (2011). Re-examining the similarities between teacher and student conceptions about physical science. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 22(2), 101-114. DOI: 10.1007/s10972-010-9196-x

Confrey, J. (1990). A review of the research on student conceptions in mathematics, science, and programming. Review of research in education, 16, 3-56. http://ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/login?url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/1167350

Driver, R., Guesne, E., & Tiberghien, A. (1985). Children’s ideas and the learning of science. Children’s ideas in science, 1-9.

Spencer, J. & Juliani, A.J. (2016). LAUNCH: using design thinking to boost creativity and bring out the maker in every student. San Diego, CA: Dave Burgess Consulting, Inc.

 

 

Chat Rooms

In grade five, I remember the first time we were brought to the computer lab to use the computers. Prior to arriving, our teacher had asked us, “What do you want to be able to do on the computer?” I remember writing, ‘I want to learn how to use the internet.’ Shortly after, my parents bought our family’s first PC computer. I was navigating it immediately, troubleshooting and problem solving. Somehow or other, I accessed an online chat room and was introduced to my first experience with a virtual social community. I was fascinated that a machine could connect me with people in other countries. This experience was memorable because it folded over into my professional development. Twitter has become a platform I use daily to connect with teachers outside of my school community. My students have experienced the benefits of virtual communication as we have received ideas, resources, shared our projects, and even had the opportunity to live chat with the NBA on a virtual field trip. I am constantly amazed at the way technology connects professionals, allowing for professional development and collaboration.

 

Hello from Burnaby

Hi, my name is Danielle Peters. I live in Burnaby (B.C., Canada) and I am a grade 3 teacher in the Surrey School District. I have previously taught grades 2, 5, and 6. I am also one of our districts Coding teachers. Once a week I visit other schools and teach students about design thinking, coding, and programming. I also teach the classroom teacher how to implement the new ADST curriculum. I am passionate about literacy and authentic assessment. I majored in English Literature and Visual Arts in my undergrad. On the side I enjoy hiking, photography, and reading. This is my 5th or 6th class in the MET program. I recently completed the 4 core courses. I am looking forward to learning how digital technology can support my students in numeracy and science. I am also looking forward to connecting with more educators. I have made great connections through the MET program.