After School Program #6

This week was the last week for us at the after school program at Hyalite Elementary.  For the activity this week, we put up an educational gaming website called funbrain.com.  We told the kids to have fun and pick whichever game or games they wanted to play.  Some of the kids actually opted to type instead of playing games.  The ones who wanted to type, we set their computer up with word processors and had them either write a quick story, or write a note to their parents.

This activity, overall, went incredibly smooth, the kids had fun, and some of them even wanted to repeat some typing exercises.  There were no major hangups, and I was really impressed with the level of comprehension and decision making they were able to display.  Sometimes, with kids this young, they have a hard time choosing when given multiple options.  No so with this group.  Once they were settled in to a computer, everything just happened and the time flew by.

This whole experience over the last six weeks has been surprising and quite rewarding.  I found myself pleasantly surprised on multiple occasions whenever I caught myself underestimating these kids.  The impact we had may be insignificant in the long run, but I feel like something was accomplished.  I may look into helping out with the after school program in the future...

After School Program #5

This week, we had the kids use a website called "Wordle" that turned out to be a lot of fun.  They got to input words that define them.  We put up on the board some ideas for them to use, such as: favorite food, color, animal, subject, place they were born, places they've been, etc. This took a while, as the kids are not very proficient at typing.  This was ok though, because we gave them plenty of time to input as many as they could.  Once they were done inputting words, the site then takes the words and makes them into a customizable collage.  The kids really enjoyed this and they got to print out their wordles and take them home to show their parents.  Overall, this activity went over really well. The kids got something cool to show off and they also got a lot of practice with typing and spelling, without even realizing it.

Innovations Worksheet

If I were to choose one tool for use as a teacher, it would have to be the iPad. It offers the most options for the cost out of any of the other tools. It can be used as an iClicker, Flip camera, computer, a web 2.0 access tool, and with peripherals and apps, can connect to smart boards, projectors, etc. They can also be used to present rich interactive content to give an astronomical advantage to presentation. Also, with the development of apps and ever increasing computing power, the iPad really has no limitations except the imagination. At their low cost compared to computers and all other devices that it replaces, the iPad is cheap enough to potentially provide one to every student in a district. The cost benefit is what really sells this tool. Instead of buying iClickers, Flip Cameras, document cameras, etc. which can total in the thousands of dollars per student, a district can buy an iPad for $400-500 per student and get all of the functionality of all of these other devices and then some.

link to innovation worksheet notes:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SxtAlh6Zbpht7ikhbY8jN9mx8qYJJ_nR6tq8ubmwOjg/edit

Week #12 Case Study

Discussion Questions:

1. I think the responsibility for paying for a virtual high school should follow this pattern: If the student is of traditional high school age, it could be a part of the school district's responsibility, just like any other school in the district, ie paid for with tax dollars, much like a charter school or alternative school. It could also be funded outside the district via the voucher program already in place. If the student is a non-traditional and wishes to have more than a GED, then tuition could be assessed on an income adjusted basis or incentives given, such as scholarships or employer funding (tuition reimbursement through an employer) as options. As it is, virtual classrooms are in their infancy. In the future, it could be possible to replace brick and mortar high schools, in rural areas for example, to offer a rich high school and AP experience to those in outlying districts. This could also be a preferred method for districts to cut costs while maintaining, or even enriching, the quality of public education provided.

2. I think any responsible school district needs to integrate the idea of virtual learning into the fold, and offered as an integral part of the education experience. As we move forever forward into a technologically advanced future, where literally anything is becoming possible, school districts need to acknowledge the need for technology integration in classrooms and offer distance learning as an option, especially as a viable alternative to possibly losing a student from the district to homeschooling. It can also be an excellent alternative to alternative high schools.

3. If such programs are integrated into a state's education portfolio, parents should certainly be notified of the option and also be well informed of a 'hybrid' classroom of traditional face to face as well as distance learning. Parents are vital to the strength of such a program, and need to be kept up to speed in order for them to provide support to their child in such a program.

4. A degree in teaching online courses is not necessary, however, certification would be an absolute must. For such a program to be successful, it is absolutely vital that the instructor is well versed in the technology and programs to be used, in a very deep way. In the future, though, it could be a degree option, or at least have a teacher education program in universities which have a focus on distance learning and/or virtual classrooms.

After School Program #4

This week we had the kids construct a "how to" story for us. The kids picked their own topic, their favorite thing to do, and wrote a step by step story of how to do that activity. The kids were incredibly creative with this project. We had everything from "how to do gymnastics" to "how to draw a zombie." They also did surprisingly well with forming sentences with a little help from us on spelling. Their favorite part by far was being able to pick a picture to put with their story and they got to print it out and take it home. On another note, something hit me today in a powerful way; and that was the fact that we're really forming bonds with these kids and they really do look up to us. As soon as I came to that realization, everything fell into place. I'm not just doing this after school program, teaching these kids how to utilize technology- they are teaching me as well, in their own way.

After School Program #3

This week we had the kids construct a short powerpoint presentation. On each slide, (which we set up the first few for them) they answered a question, such as their name, favorite food, favorite color, etc. We did underestimate them a bit this week. Almost all of the kids needed additional slides to create to fill the time, so the average powerpoint presentation was 7-10 slides! Again, these kids are kindergarten to first grade in age. It is amazing how proficient they are at navigating a computer interface, even though they still lack in spelling, grammar and speed with their keyboarding skills. It would seem that computers are almost intuitive to them and they have an almost innate ability to recognize how to navigate within software, limited only by their reading skills.

My Podcast

Digital storytelling

My digital story illustrated the process of star birth, and is intended to be used as the beginning of a larger unit having to do with stars, our sun, stellar processes, and the connection between the earth and the sun.

-Montana State Standards covered: science standards 1,2,4,5
From opi.mt.gov:


Standard 1- Students, through the inquiry process, demonstrate the ability to design, conduct, evaluate, and communicate results and reasonable conclusions of scientific investigations.


Standard 2- Students, through the inquiry process, demonstrate knowledge of properties, forms, changes and interactions of physical and chemical systems.

Standard 4- Students, through the inquiry process, demonstrate
knowledge of the composition, structures, processes and interactions of Earth’s systems and other objects in space.

Standard 5- Students, through the inquiry process, understand how scientific knowledge and technological developments impact communities, cultures and societies.

The main learning objective of this digital story, would first be to introduce the idea of stellar formation, and through collaboration and inquiry the students could, by the end, demonstrate a deep understanding of stellar formation.

The incorporation of this digital story would be to first present the video as-is with minimal foundation.  Then after the story is shown, take a survey of the class to identify prior knowledge of the subject.  Then, over the course of one class period, go through the digital story on a smart board, flesh out all of the topics involved in star birth.  Using groups, supplemental activities in the form of thought experiments could promote peer learning.  The relative advantage of using this presentation style is that it establishes multiple pathways to the information via visual, auditory, peer collaboration, and teacher instruction as opposed to static lecture format.

Case Study - Week 10

Discussion Questions:

1.  To prepare your students for podcasts, you would first have to ensure that all students have access to a device that can play them: an ipod, a computer, a smartphone, mp3 player, etc.  I think equal access would be the first major hurdle to podcasting.  Other than that, podcasts are pretty straight forward and require no training on how to listen to them.

2.  Potential detriments to podcasting is relying too heavily on it- meaning eventually your students stop coming to class altogether, and you may have students that you never interact with directly.  The obvious upsides are pointed out in the case study.  The idea that class lectures and content can be completely mobile outside of the classroom, can open an array of exciting options with learning.  I think the best way to boost the upsides and diminish the downsides of podcasting is to have podcasts not just replay the lecture material, but enhance and augment the learning experience.

In a classic school setting, I think podcasts can be integrated in a way that could actually help attendance instead of lowering it.  For example, if different requirements were set between the in-class material and the podcasts.  To get students interested in coming to class, they need a benefit to doing so.  Attendance points could help, and then on the flip side, the podcast could have the unique benefit of not just simply mobile learning, but some possible extra credit opportunities.

I think if it were implemented this way, podcasting can be an extension and enhancement of the classroom material without diminishing classroom interaction and attendance.  You would also get the added benefit of establishing and reinforcing multiple neural pathways to information.

3.  If a teacher uses podcasts, I think some obligations students might have would definitely be attendance, appropriate use, and requirements for participation.  Offering unique benefits for class discussion and podcasts can definitely reinforce the information.  Requiring class attendance and participation gives the students ownership of the material– something that is not fully realized by standard lectures or over reliance on podcasts separately.

4.  I think there should still be requirements for attendance, because this interaction with peers and teachers is an important part of the learning experience.  If both classroom and podcast (along with other technologies) were integrated correctly, they can all add up on each other and have a serious net effect on a class and its learning objectives.

After School Program #2

This week, we had the kids play a math game on their computers.  After a few simple instructions on how to operate the site, the kids quickly settled in and got started.  Kids at this age (kindergarten and first grade)  still seem to enjoy math quite a bit; in fact I'm not sure where along the line they start to lose that.  Anyway, we may have overestimated the kids last week with their writing and typing skills, I was personally blown away at how well these kids handled math.  It was incredible.
There were no snags or major issues this week other than the short time (10-15 min per group) we had to spend with them, and the fact that we may need to be armed with more challenging math in the future.  And, as a Physics major with a minor in Math, I am delighted that kids are proficient with math and enjoy it at the level these kids do.

After School Program #1

This week in the after school program tech club, we had the kids use "switch-a-roo zoo" where they were able to mess around a bid with creating an animal out of body parts of various existing animals.  Once an animal was created, we wanted the kids to name the animal and write some interesting things about their animal.
Of course, we are talking about kindergartners and first graders; so while they were quickly able to come up with outlandish and whimsical animals, they aren't very good (most of them anyway) at things like forming words.  Or spelling words.  Or typing words.  Or typing words into usable sentences.  So the activity quickly became a troubleshooting triage when all fifteen students wanted help putting words on the page.
Next time, if this activity is to be repeated, we will not ask for full sentences, just a name for the animal and where it lives.  Which is what we ended up doing anyway...

Case Study - Week 8

Discussion Questions:

1.   If I were the teacher, I would do exactly as the teacher did, give them zeros on the exam, as a start.  Cheating is one thing, and add on top of that the deception when initially confronted about it, I think at least some further action should be taken.  At the collegiate level, the girls would face expulsion for cheating and that would be the end of it.

With all of that said, however, if I were the teacher, perhaps I would design my tests to avoid cheating.  Perhaps even design an "open resource" exam, ie- open book, cell phones, ipods, even take the exam in small groups; and set the same time limit for the exam.  Even with all of these resources at their disposal, the students would still have to know where to find information that they need, and such an exam would only be easily completed in the time allotted if the students either know the information, or know where to find it quickly.

I personally have experience with this type of open resource exam and they are challenging, rewarding, and effective.  The best part: cheating is eliminated, because everything is fair game.

2.    I would not outright ban cellphones in my classroom, rather, I would embrace them in many ways as teaching and communication between my students.  I would, however, stress the appropriateness of cell phone usage and have a zero tolerance for inappropriate usage.

3.  Laura and Jessica should receive reprimand for their actions, not just for the cheating, but for the deception and the fact that they weren't 'scared straight' after the initial confrontation.  They would be expelled in a heartbeat at the collegiate level, and the actions taken by the teacher in this case were appropriate.  However, at the high school level, I don't think they should be expelled for this particular situation.  I think this whole case could be flipped into a valuable experience not only for the two girls involved, but the teacher and her test making and the rest of the class as a whole.

4.  I disagree with the banning of cell phones in schools.  I believe we are experiencing an awkward phase in schools where we don't exactly know how to effectively incorporate such technology (except in a few emerging cases), as well as the fact that cell phone bans are notoriously difficult to enforce.  I think technology should be embraced wherever possible and a creative solution can and should be undertaken.

Week 6 Case Study - digital storytelling

Focus questions

1 - The students gain skills with digital storytelling that they would not gain from writing, for example, a research paper alone.  Being able to represent something visually points to a much higher level of comprehension.  Students can learn a lot about a topic by writing a paper (which should also be a part of a digital storytelling project) but being able to put together a story with pictures and video, which is shared with their peers; means that they understand their subject matter not just in a theoretical sense, but also in a practical, real-world sense.  They also gain skills in the areas of problem solving and critical thinking, because visual representation rarely translates directly from a thought inside your head to final product on the screen- there are a lot of hurdles to overcome with representation.  This is on top of the obvious skills gained by such an exercise of writing and technology interfacing.

2 - The teacher needs to be well versed with the technology, both software and hardware, in order to implement such a project.  He or she needs to understand the programs inside and out, and be able to effectively pass this information on to their students.  They also need a high level of understanding in order to have a high level of vigilance regarding the students using the computers and software in a productive manner.

3 - Digital storytelling can be used to help shy students 'come out of their shells' and express themselves in a non threatening environment.  They are putting themselves on display for their classmates, but in a more reserved fashion and in a way that would eliminate a lot of dread and nerves.  Also, it was excellent that the teacher in this case only had students present in front of their classmates if they wanted to, which gives more outspoken students a chance to present to their classmates.

Week 4 Case Study - Wikis and plagiarism

1.  Miss Walker could have handled the plagiarism situation differently by first outlining the severity of plagiarism, in addition to the steps she took.  If the students, after given the opportunity to revise, still had plagiarized passages, a zero on the project is more than realistic/ appropriate.

2.   Wikis can be appropriate for any grade level, as long as the project is at the appropriate grade level and students understand how to site sources.

3.  To ensure involvement of all students, assess individual participation grades in addition to an overall group grade.

4.  As stated in question #1 above, a zero for the project is an appropriate response if the students were given the opportunity to revise.  This of course depends on severity of the situation as well as the ability level of the students regarding siting sources.  One warning is more than enough though.

5.  Overall, this case study outlined all major concerns with wikis.  I believe that wikis can be a very effective tool in the classroom if all of these concerns are monitored.

Week 2 Case Study Response

Case study: Physics and digital video

Contextual information and background
The author of the case study did an adequate job of setting up the context of the case study.  They describe the setting of Jane, North Dakota as being a rural mining and ranching town of twenty thousand.  They outline the average classroom size, age group, and demographics regarding students with special needs.  They outlined clearly what the goal was of the project: use an integration of video cameras, still photography, and smart boards to teach Physics in a hands on way.
The background research was also adequate, pointing out that in today's world it is important to use technology appropriately to stimulate interest in subjects and help students relate to the material better.  I would have liked to see some more background on how this activity puts the learning in the hands of the students, because they are really guiding the activity based on things that interest them in the world around them.

Activity plan 
The enthusiasm in this case study is evident in the activity plan.  It is thorough, yet easy to read and understand.  I think anyone reading this case study could pull off this activity as long as they had a basic understanding of the equipment involved: cameras, smart boards, and integrating software. 

Technology integration rationale 
As a prospective science teacher, I found this case study imaginative and exciting.  By integrating Physics teaching with technology in the hands of students, it really takes a dense subject and makes it easy to understand using examples from the real world.  It would give the students an advantage not only in their understanding of physical laws, but how they apply to every day life.  By making the material relevant to the students in the real world, it gives them a much deeper understanding than a lecture/theoretical format alone could.  Also, putting cameras in the hands of students, so they can record the motion of different objects to study later, really gives students ownership of the process and makes the whole activity even more relevant to them.