Finishing My Masters

Wow, at times this year, I questioned my drive to finish my degree, but here I am. This is my last post for my classes. I hope to continue this blog on a more personal level. There have been many resources I have learned about in the Walden program. The most useful is my delicious.com account. I have bookmarked so many sites that I did not have time to look closely at when I first noted them. Now, as part of my effort to stay abreast of emerging technology, I will go back and examine them more carefully. I also plan to look for updates of the Horizon Report.
My learning will not stop now. I will continue to attend inservices, conferences, and occasional classes. Keeping my personal learning community active is another important step to stay updated with new technologies. That includes those close to me and the people in virtual spaces like Second Life.
This program has inspired me to develop a relationship with my school's curriculum director. It is through her and our technology coordinators that change can take place in my school district.
I am cutting this short to get my son ready to attend a youth leadership conference in Washington, D.C. What an incredibly challenging year this has been, but it is ending on a high note. I look forward to continued development in my teaching career.

Online Learning Modules

It is one thing to take an online class as an adult, but to expect a teenager or younger child to be able to have the self-discipline to take an online class is too much, or is it? My school offers online classes at the high school level through Florida Virtual. It is a valuable opportunity for students who want to take a foreign language or specialty class such as marine biology that my small school does not have the resources to offer otherwise. The students who opt for this definitely must be self directed learners. There is a teacher in the building assigned to be a coach for these students to help them when needed, and it has been successful in meeting special needs. Christensen and Horn (2008) refer to using online learning like this as filling in a "non-consumption." There is no other opportunity for students to take these specialty classes.

Another use of online learning is to aid students with special needs. Differentiating for students can be difficult, but technology and online learning can help teachers; it does not take the place of the teacher, as some may fear. A student using a computer can make a mistake without being embarrassed, and can take as much time or as many tries as needed. It can also help when a student is physically unable to attend school, as this screentoast shows: screentoast.

Using a moodle like the one in the screentoast is not only beneficial for students being home-tutored, but is also beneficial to the rest of the class. Teachers can add links to free resources to aid struggling students or enrich advanced students. Using the wiki part of a moodle, parents, teachers, and students can share resources and help find "customized instructional software" that Christensen and Horn predict will change the way learning difficulties are diagnosed and helped (2008, p. 19).

One criticism of using online learning modules is the concern of a lack of interaction. If much learning is done through the computer, how does this take into account social learning theories? Just because classwork is handled online does not mean it is not social. There are a variety of tools such as e-mail, chat, voicethreads, and other web-based tools that can be used "to enhance interactivity and a sense of community" (Roberson & Klotz, 2002).

Online learning modules can be very beneficial if used effectively. They can fill areas of non-consumption and provide meaningful learning experiences.

Christensen, C. M., & , M. B. (2008). How Do We Transform Our Schools? : Education Next. Education Next : A Journal of Opinion and Research, 8(3). Retrieved May 31, 2010, from http://educationnext.org/how-do-we-transform-our-schools/

Roberson, T., & Klotz, J. (2002). How Can Instructors and Administrators Fill the Missing Link in Online Instruction?. Online Journal of Distance Learning Administration, 5(4). Retrieved May 29, 2010, from http://www.westga.edu/~distance/ojdla/winter54/roberson54.htm

Reflecting on Reaching and Engaging All Learners

This class has been a very useful review and more in depth look at UDL and differentiated instruction. I have learned that it is important to differentiate for process and product. I have a responsibility to my students to reach them at their varying levels of readiness; homogeneous groups can aid in this. I also need to account for interest and learning styles in differentiating lessons.

Sometimes the simplest technology can help. Word can be very useful to aid students with disabilities: they can enlarge print, use the text-to-speech feature of the computer, insert visuals when words escape them, or use the visuals just to enhance the words. I am going to immediately start using the simple tools at my disposal more effectively. I already use a SMART Board, a clicker response system, and the computer lab for student projects. I can start using these things more effectively. I have promised my students to give them more choice in their products, and technology can help with that.

I have my group’s differentiation station bookmarked and will continue to refer back to it for ideas. I hope my classmates will also continue to use it. Maybe we will be able to keep it active.

Reflecting on Integrating Technology Across the Curriculum

These past eight weeks have been challenging, exciting, and difficult for me on both personal and professional levels. It has been through the strength of God that I have not only survived, but have also grown as a person and as a teacher. As I reflect on integrating technology across the curriculum, I realize that all teachers are responsible for the technology standards. If educators are to prepare students for the 21st century, we have to teach problem solving and creative thinking skills, and an integral part of that is using technology to achieve those goals.

The lesson that made the most impact on me from this class was the problem-based learning plan. Basing lessons on authentic problems that the students try to solve is truly engaging. I implemented this plan with my students as I developed it for this class. I chose to turn the persuasive essay into a problem solving experience instead of it being just an exercise. So far, I am seeing a higher level of engagement from my students. They have chosen topics that are important to them, ranging from school dress code issues to road conditions in their local townships. They are researching and writing rough drafts this week. Their goal is to argue for a change in the way these issues are handled. In the next couple of weeks, my students will collaborate to bring their arguments together to create a persuasive presentation for a panel of community and school leaders.

My own approach to collaboration is changing as a result of this class. One of my goals is to improve how I collaborate on a professional level. There are a few teachers from my master’s classes that I have put into my address book. I have been inspired by a science teacher with whom I plan to stay in touch, even though we teach different subjects. I have also started to make other connections. Just this week, I added a fellow English teacher from a school an hour’s drive away to my list of collaborative colleagues.

As part of my future lesson planning, besides my state language arts standards, I am also going to be looking at technology standards for lessons. I also plan to one day become a technology specialist to help teachers from all contents to use technology. The only problem with this plan is that the economy has forced schools in my area to cut those positions. This situation will eventually change. Learning about the uses of technology is too important to stay pushed back.

Using GAME Plans with Students

I have a Digital Story Telling Issue before I discuss how to use GAME plans with students:
My PBL lesson is formed around persuasive writing. I can see how social networking can be a part of this, but am having trouble seeing digital story telling fitting in. My students are researching a problem in the school or community. I am grouping them based on similar issues and using wikis for them to share information and discuss potential arguments. My school will not allow me to use an outside wiki that community members could access to join in the discussion, so I am encouraging my students to contact community members via email. When the students write their essays, I am having them out together persuasive presentations for a panel made up of school and community leaders. Could this part be digital story telling? It is not really a "story".

GAME Plans for students:
So many of my students have difficulty problem solving. Sometimes, some of them just want someone to give them an easy answer. Others want to do more with their learning, but do not have an organized plan of attack. Teaching them the process of a GAME Plan could be quite useful. For projects, I could start students out with a GAME plan outline. Under "action", they can fill in the tools they will use to achieve their goals. The tools will be different forms of technology.

Using Collaboration and Problem-Based Learning

As I think about my goals for technology use, I think I am successfully meeting my goal to use digital tools to collaborate with colleagues. I need to extend this to help my students do the same thing. I am limited by my school's policies, though. In a staff meeting, we were recently told that we are not allowed to have students post on wikis, blogs, or any other web sites that are not directly run by our school. It was infuriating to think how much we are limiting our students with this parochial attitude. So, the only collaboration I can have my students do is with each other. My school does have a Moodle that is a district wiki. I will have my different periods use it to collaborate with each other. That way, they at least are working with potentially 126 students, rather than just the 27 in the individual class periods.

As far as my problem-based learning goal, here in northeast Ohio, the snow has brought us to a standstill. Hopefully, next week, my students will begin researching the problems for their persuasive essays.

GAME Plan - Using PBL to Engage Learners

As I continue in my quest to engage students in real world issues, I am discovering that I am having trouble finding the issue that relates to English standards. My persuasive writing idea does not focus on one issue. I want to the students to choose a topic that interests them rather than assigning a problem to them. I think that is a better way to get them engaged. Any topic can be used to teach them writing strategies for persuasion which is the content standard we are working on.

I have fallen short in acting toward this goal so far. I need to refocus and read more about PBL specifically. In the article Jumping the PBL Implementation Hurdle: Supporting the Efforts of K-12 Teachers by Ertmer and Simons, the authors suggest watching an experienced teacher use the PBL strategy. That is my next step. Does anyone know of some good web sites with video of this?

Ertmer, P., & Simons, K. (Spring 2006). Jumping the PBL implementation hurdle: Supporting the efforts of K-12 teachers. The Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning, 1(1), 40–54. Retrieved from http://docs.lib.purdue.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1005&context=ijpbl.