May+2010+-+Reflections

=May 2010= As there are several activities listed for each week, one activity will be chosen as the reflection topic for that week.

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Reflection for the week of 5/3-5/7/2010
This has been a very busy week as far as getting the student installation of Moodle up to speed. I have been adding interactive blocks, modules, activities, and question types to try to give our online learning environment a robust offering of features. I'm hoping to show teachers that online is not necessarily synonymous with multiple choice and that our digital environment allows for the same, if not more, interactivity as a physical classroom. It's fun to test the new additions and create examples to show to teachers. It's important that they stretch their thinking and their curriculum to really take advantage of the environment our district is providing. It is my goal to help teachers ignore the environment described in the quote below.

"New media offer a wealth of opportunities for interaction, yet many times are employed in a non-interactive mode that tends to focus on creating an online lecture. Lecture is effective for knowledge transmission, but if it is the primary strategy used in the online environment, the course becomes a digital correspondence course with potential problems of learner isolation and high dropout rate." (Conrad, & Donaldson, 2004)

I am also trying to set up example online courses that follow the Fisher & Frey model, "I do it, We do it, You do it" covered in their book Better Learning Through Structured Teaching, (Fisher & Frey, 2008) This model is a district initiative and as the Learning Technologies Department, we want to work closely with the Curriculum, Assessment and Instruction Department to ensure that what we are working on in the digital environment reflects the research-based, best practices supported by the district. This also meets the ISTE Technology Facilitation Standard 2.A that requires that facilitators should "design developmentally appropriate learning opportunities that apply technology-enhanced instructional strategies to support the diverse needs of learners." (Williamson & Redish, 2009)

References:
Conrad, R., & Donaldson, J. (2004). Engaging the online learner. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Fisher, D., & Frey, N. (2008). Better learning through structured teaching. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Williamson, J., & Redish, T. (2009). Iste's technology facilitation and leadership standards: what every k-12 leader should know and be able to do. Washington, DC: International Society for Technology in Education.

Reflection for the week of 5/10-5/14/2010
This week saw the completion of two very large projects for the Learning Technologies Department. We completed the 8th Grade Technology Literacy Assessment administration. We used a pre-made test from SimpleAssessment to test the Technology Application skills of every 8th grade student in the district. "SimpleAssessment was designed to meet the NCLB requirement of ensuring that every student is technologically literate by the time the student completes the 8th grade." ("Infosource learning," 2010) We also had the Social Studies and English Language Arts teachers give their students a technology project using their course content. We combined the results from the projects with the test scores 50-50 to determine each students' final score.

Despite assurances that our infrastructure could handle the load, we had a very difficult time with bandwidth issues when we had all three classes of students on the computers during any given class period. Since we experienced problems with speed and access, especially since the test is flash-based, while at Hughes Middle School, we divided the Kerr Middle School testing into two days to try to cut back on the bandwidth difficulties. This worked for the most part, but we experienced severe drops in speed and access from 2:00pm to 3:00pm every day. We worked closely with the Voice and Network department to overcome initial issues with our filtration system and our firewall, but we couldn't fix the lag in speed during those afternoon hours.

In keeping with ISTE's Technology Faciliation Standard TF-IV.B we will "use technology resources to collect and analyze data, interpret results, and communicate findings to improve instructional practice and maximize student learning." (Williamson & Redish, 2009) This testing identified several areas of weakness in our students Technology Applications knowledge, the primary concern being their vocabulary. Many students could successfully use the technology, but were unable to identify the same tasks by their appropriate vocabulary. We will use the data to create programs for our teachers and students that help them to improve in their weak areas through Learning Technologies created warm-ups, vocabulary lists, etc., that will be provided to the teachers on all middle school campuses. Preliminary data is suggesting that our pass rates on the assessment alone are low and in keeping with the results from the TEA Technology Literacy Assessment Pilot that found "that many Texas eighth graders are failing to acquire the technology knowledge and skills needed to compete in a global society." (Texas Education Agency, 2009)

References:
Infosource learning. (2010, May 23). Retrieved from http://www.simpleassessment.com

Texas Education Agency, Initials. (2009, August). Technology literacy assessment pilot; final results for 2007-08 and 2008-09. Retrieved from http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/technology/techlitassessment/TechLitFinalReport09.pdf

Williamson, J., & Redish, T. (2009). Iste's technology facilitation and leadership standards: what every k-12 leader should know and be able to do. Washington, DC: International Society for Technology in Education.

Reflection for the week of 5/17-5/21/2010
For the past several weeks I have been working closely with a teacher at Crossroads HS, our alternative high school campus, on an action research project regarding the use of cellular and mobile technologies in the classroom. The final action research project was due May 14, 2009 to the Curriculum, Assessment, and Instruction department in order for it to be graded based on a rubric, and the teacher to earn a $500.00 stipend (dependent upon her project score).

I was involved in the planning, implementation, and disaggregation of data for this project. The Learning Technologies Department procured a waiver from the School Board to allow this teacher's students to use cellular technologies in their classroom, as it is currently against District Policy.

The project began with a survey of students, teachers, and administrators regarding their cellular phone usage, equipment, plans, accessibility, and their opinions of the technology as a viable education tool and as a behavior/discipline issue. Then we used web 2.0 technology with http://polleverywhere.com to allow students to participate in daily polls, academic questions that spanned the core courses, and vocabulary exercises. Two assignments using mobile technology (cellular phones, digital cameras, and laptops) were given to students in the teacher's class. Student examples of all of these activities were gathered along with teacher observations and student reflections. A final survey of the students who participated was also conducted. The issue of the duplicability of this project was also discussed as the current environment was small, well contained, and in a non-traditional teaching environment. (Mehaffey, & Estes, 2010)

The most apparent issues with replicating this technology in standard classrooms are training. Teachers will need training on the technology itself as well as appropriate strategies for integration. Students will need training on appropriate usage, and policies and procedures will have to be evaluated and remade to cover the appropriate use of these technologies, consequences for inappropriate use, liability, ability to filter throughout the District network, etc. That training is going to take time and manpower. As stated in the article Mobile Learning Makes Its Mark on K-12 from Education Week, "The most successful mobile-technology initiative goes far beyond just the cost of the devices. In fact, the greatest expenses often come from the resources needed to support the technologies." ("Mobile learning makes," 2010)

I met with my site mentor to plan a presentation to our School Board about the outcomes of this project. This first presentation, set for Monday, May 24, 2010 is an informational presentation. It will be followed on the 7th of June, 2010 with an action item to change the wording of District policy to allow for the use of mobile technologies in the classroom under certain conditions and with the involvement of the Learning Technologies Department.

I was amazed at the number of ISTE Technology Facilitation Standards covered by this project. We covered the more obvious standards (TF-I, II, III, IV) but we also had to delve into productivity and professional practice for the instructor (TF-V), social, ethical, and legal issues with teachers and students (TF-VI), and especially policy and planning (TF-VII) as this is such an emergent technology that our District doesn't have policy in place to really effectively deal with its use. (Williamson, & Redish, 2009) I am very excited to see where this move towards the use of these technologies will take our District, our students, and the way we teach.

References:
Mobile learning makes its mark on k-12. (2010, March 16). Education Week, 29(26), Retrieved from http://www.edweek.org/login.html? source=http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2010/03/18 /26overview.h29.html&destination= http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2010/03/18/ 26overview.h29.html&levelId=2100

Mehaffey, D., & Estes, K. (2010). Mobile technology: learning on the go.

Williamson, J., & Redish, T. (2009). Iste's technology facilitation and leadership standards: what every k-12 leader should know and be able to do. Washington, DC: International Society for Technology in Education.

Reflection for the week of 5/24-5/31/2010
After playing around a little bit in the Project Share network at http://epsilen.com, I am suffering from a bit of social media overload, but I wanted to talk about it here because I think Lamar University and specifically THIS program should look into availing itself of this useful tool.

"Project Share is a partnership between TEA, Epsilen, and The New York Times Knowledge Network. This initiative will provide for online content delivery through teaching, collaborating and networking. The Epsilen platform offers opportunities to enhance the eLearning environment through its comprehensive suite of tools for teaching, interacting, collaborating and assessment. Project Share will also provide more than 150 years of articles, videos, and interactive features from The New York Times online repository, which houses digital content and resources dating back to 1851. The Epsilen network and New York Times repository allow teachers to leverage existing content and specifically align it with Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills

Beyond the initial launch, Project Share will also pilot the use of ePortfolios that allow teachers to assess students using methods other than pencil/paper assessments by giving students the opportunity to showcase work representing a wider range of their capabilities." ("Engaged learning around", 2010)

I have begun building my profile, built two groups, created a couple of networks, and started following individuals in my field using this site. I have not yet tested out the entire ePortfolio functions, but look forward to working with them. This software also allows you to create courses, so I'll be building a course in the software to compare the functionality and ease of use with our Moodle installation.

Here are a couple of screen shots of my site:

This is a shot of the home page - called "My Portal". It is the hub of each user's site and has all announcements, feed streams, and calendar events.

And this is a brief snapshot of the ePortfolio set up page You can see just a few of the options available. ("Screenshots from epsilen.com", 2010)

I think it would really behoove this program to investigate using this system. Networks for each degree plan could be created, groups for each course could be built, and then the building of ePortfolios and online courses would be consistent and easily accessible by professors. The best part is that it is free. And with TEA already using it to disseminate their professional development, and lifelong eportfolio storage, you can't beat it.

With additional benefits like a blog, an area to post publications and certifications, and discussion forums in every group, this is a great tool for educators and when the students are added, a great tool for teaching and learning.

References:
Engaged learning around shared digital content. (2010, May 26). Retrieved from http://tea.epsilen.com/Public/Home.aspx

Screenshots from epsilen.com. (2010). [Web]. Retrieved from http://www.epsilen.com/ Williamson, J., & Redish, T. (2009). Iste's technology facilitation and leadership standards: what every k-12 leader should know and be able to do. Washington, DC: International Society for Technology in Education.

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