Analyzing Data

edu641mod 5-2

Data analysis of the 10 test questions shows that half of the class scored 60% or lower, with two students scoring 30%, while the other half of the students scored in the 70-80% and one at 90%.  It is possible that the lowest tier are students with disabilities.   The weakest area for the class as a whole (based on one question) is in computing fractions and decimals, although the student who scored 90% also got this one wrong, so it might have been a badly worded question.  The other 2 lowest scoring questions are in computing area and perimeter of polygons and identifying patterns.

The Google spreadsheet does allow for highlighting areas based on certain parameters, using the conditional formatting.  I had used Excel quite a bit in the past and never noticed that this feature exists.  I did have a learning curve on using Google spreadsheets as I had not used it before. I had to try entering formulas in Excel and then translate them into Google at first, but then got the hang of Google spreadsheets after a bit, but it is quite different.  I used -1 to delineate incorrect answers, as I knew that Excel would display negative numbers as red, when formatted, but Google left the negatives in, which is okay.  I did think the charting function was easier to use in Google, as it doesn't have all of the options Excel has so it is more straightforward.

I wanted to try Zoho, but didn't have time to learn how to use it (hmm...) and figure out how to compute the data, but would like to go back and try it later.

I have used Excel to compute grades and credit hours and could also use Google spreadsheets.  I have used it with students to create graphs.

Google Spreadsheet

Presentation Module 4-2

Strategies to Promote New Technology Use

M4-1

        One strategy I have tried to use is to share webinars with teachers.  I would sign up for a webinar from SimpleK12 or edmodocon and invite them to come to my classroom and watch the webinar on the IWB or on the movie screen in the media center's presentation room.  I scheduled these for lunchtime or after school on a day which we didn't already have another meeting.  Well, lunchtime is difficult (even though we get an hour! unless of course we are working through lunch).  A lot of the teachers, at the special education school where I work, end up eating with their class most of the time, as most of the students need a lot of support and the teacher needs to be there to help the paraprofessionals.  The only times they do not is when they have an IEP or other meeting.  After school is hard too.  If we are not in a mandatory staff or committee meeting, the teachers need to prepare lessons for the next day, clean up their room, have phone conferences with parents and other tasks.

A strategy that did work, though, other than meeting one to one with individual teachers, was to show them what could be done by sharing a video of the tool in action. The best way I have found to do that, if not in person, is to send a video via email.  Many tools have links to videos showing how they work. usually on YouTube.  That has had some positive results. Case in point: I recently sent out a video about using Skype to interface with another class somewhere in the world and play a game called Mystery Skype, to guess where the other class was from. The students use their geography knowledge and the Internet to look up clues and use online maps to narrow down the location. I have a couple of teachers who were very interested in it.  Now we are just looking for an appropriate class to interface with. 

Photo credits: 

Tomkins, C. (2012). Social Media Marketing and Gourmet Cooking With The Social Media Chef, Chris Tompkins. Social Media Marketing and Gourmet Cooking With The Social Media Chef, Chris Tompkins. April 2012. Retrieved October 16, 2013, from http://servedfreshmedia.com/2012/04/no-time-for-marketing-heres-how-to-make-time/

The Writing Center at MSU. (10/2012). The Writing Center at MSU. Retrieved October 16, 2013, from http://writing.msu.edu

Scenarios

M3-1

Consider the following scenarios:

Scenario One: Upon walking into the classroom of a new eighth grade English 
language arts (ELA) teacher, the teacher informs you that she will be teaching a 
lesson on fate versus free will the following week. She plans on using excerpts from 
Oedipus Rex and Dante’s Inferno. She has not put the lesson plan together yet but 
intends to have the students present examples from the readings to support their 
case through a persuasive essay.

• I'm not familiar with either of the books, so I am not sure what the teacher is looking for, but to work on a persuasive essay, I would suggest doing a class blog, where students contribute posts for their essay. They can discuss via the comments area for each essay.

• Or, maybe the teacher could put together a webquest, which explains the elements of a persuasive essay and gives examples of them via websites or blogs.  The tech integrator would help the teacher to set up the webquest on a website or a page on the blog site. 

     Either way a rubric would be needed to identify the criteria for a good persuasive essay.


Scenario Two: 

A high school science teacher is presenting a unit on astronomy, 
specifically on how Polaris is no longer the central point of the northern sky. The 
teacher is confident that he can teach it out of a book but is anxious to give the 
students a better experience from the lesson. He is hoping that the technology 
integration specialist will be able to help make a more authentic study for the 
students.

• Google Sky

Scenario Three: 

In a fourth grade social studies class, the class is discussing the 
role of landscape and surroundings on early natives—what type of food they ate, the 
type of dwellings they built, and of course defensive systems or escape routes. Many 
of the students have never traveled out of their own state and are not familiar with 
alternate surroundings. The social studies teacher has requested that the technology 
integrator help her create a new lesson.

• Use Google Earth to visit the different areas and see the landforms.  There are also some 3-D tours of monuments and historic buildings.  

Scenario Four: 

According to the math teacher, math is everywhere. The teacher is 
concentrating on a geometry unit discussing area and volume. The teacher is hoping 
to have the students design a home consisting of 1500 square feet of living space 
with three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a family room, and a kitchen. A playroom or 
dining room are nice to have but are not needed. In the past, the teacher has asked 
the students to draw it out with paper and pencil; however, this proved to be a poor 
choice for reasons he has not given. The teacher is currently thinking of using craft 
sticks and glue to have the students build models, but this does not fall within the 
budget. The teacher is turning to the technology integrator for help.

• My first thought was a CAD program, but if that was not available and no budget for it, maybe they could use Excel (or Google spreadsheets) to map out the blueprint, using the spreadsheet cells as units of measure. 

Motivating Teachers to Use Technology

Module 2-5

As I said in a previous post, I think Kim Cofino describes it best when she talks about how two heads are better than one when the technology integrator and the teacher "combine their strengths, share responsibilities, and learn from each other" (Cofino, 2010).  As Cofino says, you have to plant the seeds of technology usage and watch them grow slowly.  We cannot rush in and expect teachers to change their ways overnight.  There are many examples of successes and reasons to use technology, which can be shared with teachers.

Conrad Wolfram's Ted Talk is also very inspiring.  He makes the claim very well that we need to use modern methods to teach modern students and give them real world tools.  I think that showing this video to teachers may spark the idea that technology is necessary in education. His theory that students can learn better using computers is backed up by Marc Prensky's article on how digital citizens think, in which he talks about research in neurobiology that proves that stimulation of the brain while using computers and video games "actually changes brain structures and affects the way people think, and that these transformations go on throughout life" (Prensky, 2001). The premise of this article is that students are motivated by technology and find it easier to focus their attention when the material is in digital format. This theory is reiterated in this article on Classroom 2.0: Game Theory and Education.

Shaun McCusker illustrates Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences in his recent Edudemic article where he cites a how a student created a song to show his understanding of a the ideas created by the Industrial Revolution.  McCusker says that technology gives students "exciting and powerful tools" with which to create.  Students can choose music, video, artistic and writing projects that are aided by using technology.  

In the Edutopia article, World without Walls: Learning Well with Others, Will Richardson points our many examples of kids learning from others via the Internet, using Skype, etc.  But he also makes the case for teachers to become connected and learn from each other.  Showing teachers how sites such as Classroom 2.0, or Edutopia or Twitter can expand their knowledge on subjects from literacy to social studies as well as technology.  Maybe by seeing how their personal learning networks inspire them, they will translate that to encouraging their students to use technology to learn.  There are many other articles, videos and websites which we can use to sew the seeds of technology integration acceptance, slowly and one step at a time.

References:

Cofino, K. (2010, March 20). Creating a Culture of Collaboration Through Technology Integration | always learning.Kim Cofino. Retrieved October 4, 2013, from http://kimcofino.com/blog/2010/03/20/creating-a-culture-of-collaboration-through-technology-integration/

Cofino, K. (2008, October 12). Planting Seeds | always learning. Kim Cofino. Retrieved October 6, 2013, from http://kimcofino.com/blog/2008/10/12/planting-seeds/

Education "The times are a changing" - YouTube. (2009, September 30).YouTube. Retrieved October 6, 2013, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuyrP_HhWEg

McCusker, S. (2013, September 10). 4 Ways to Ensure Students Learn While Creating - Edudemic - Edudemic.Edudemic - Education Technology Tips For Students And Teachers. Retrieved September 29, 2013, from http://www.edudemic.com/learn-while-creating/

Prensky, M. (2001). Digital native, digital immigrants, Part 2: Do they really think differently?  On the Horizon. MCB University Press, Vol. 9 No. 6, December 2001. Retrieved from http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Natives,%20Digital%20Immigrants%20-%20Part2.pdf

Richardson, W. (2008, December 3). World Without Walls: Learning Well with Others | Edutopia. Edutopia | K-12 Education & Learning Innovations with Proven Strategies that Work. Retrieved October 6, 2013, from http://www.edutopia.org/collaboration-age-technology-will-richardson

Wolfram, C. (2010, July 1). Conrad Wolfram: Teaching kids real math with computers | Video on TED.com. TED: Ideas worth spreading. Retrieved October 2, 2013, from http://www.ted.com/talks/conrad_wolfram_teaching_kids_real_math_with_computers.html


Woodside, C. (2008, October 23). Game Theory and Education: The Great Merge - Classroom 2.0. Classroom 2.0. Retrieved October 6, 2013, from http://www.classroom20.com/forum/topics/649749:Topic:203702

Teaching Kids "Real Math", and Writing and Social Studies and...

Conrad Wolfram's TED Talk addresses the problems with decreasing math proficiency in schools today and suggests that the cure to the problem is to use computers to teach math.  He claims that schools put too much emphasis on calculating by hand.  He says that computers were created to do calculations and that doing hand calculations is an ancient subject.  His argument is that in the real world engineers and others use computers to do mathematical calculations.

We should be teaching students to do things they way they are done in real life. They need to learn skills that they will utilize in their future lives. As Wolfram says, the best way to solve a problem is to use the right tool for the job.  I think what he says about math can apply to any subject.  When teaching writing, whether it be creative or persuasive writing, why make kids use paper and pen instead of using a computer.  When they get out of school, if they get a job working in an environment where communication is done by computer, they are going to need to be able to communicate electronically, and I don't mean via texting.  Computers can do the menial tasks, like spell checking, so that the students can focus on the task of formulating their ideas and getting their point across to the reader.  With applications like Dragon, Kurzweil, or Text Help, students can work on getting to the point of their writing, rather than the mechanics of spelling the words.

Yes, these are assistive technologies, but some people need assistance.  I like to compare the use of technology to assist people with difficulties to wearing glasses to see.  Would you say that the person wearing glasses has an advantage or is cheating?  Maybe in Ben Franklin's day that might have been the discussion, but we are living in the 21st century now.

The same could be said for social studies, or science or economics.  Why learn about other countries from a book, when you could connect and collaborate with students from another country via Skype?  There are lots of sites with economic information (like the US Debt Clock) or science simulations. This is authentic learning!

References: 

Wolfram, C. (2010, July). Conrad Wolfram: Teaching kids real math with computers | Video on TED.com. TED: Ideas worth spreading. Retrieved October 2, 2013, from http://www.ted.com/talks/conrad_wolfram

Motivation and Technology Integration

Module 2-1

I think as Kim Cofino describes it, some teachers need to be coaxed into using technology one step at a time.  There are steps in the process, collaboration, coaching, mentoring, which help motivate the novice to continue to learn and become more proficient and independent over time.  If they are willing to take the first step and trust the technology mentor.  But, as Kim says, two heads are better than one and teachers should welcome the help, to take some weight off their own shoulders.  I believe teachers want to collaborate with other teachers and mentors, but they just need to find the time. 

Photo: Mabry Middle School

We need to make it easier and show them how much easier it will be using technology.  They need to see how readily their students take to technology embedded projects rather than boring worksheets.  There are many examples of student achievement using technology to excel, like the Mabry Middle School Film Festival in 2007.

As always, there will be the ones that step up to the plate early and then the others will follow.  Those of us who implement technology in our lessons must lead by example.  In this connected educator month, we should try to connect with at least one other teacher and share something that will motivate them to want more.


References:

Cofino, K. (2010). Creating a Culture of Collaboration Through Technology Integration. Always learning. Retrieved October 1, 2013, from http://kimcofino.com/blog/2010/03/20/creating-a-culture-of-collaboration-through-technology-integration/

Jacobs, H. H. (2010). Making learning irresistible: Extending the journey of Mabry Middle School. Curriculum 21 essential education for a changing world. Alexandria, Va.: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.