Tech Class / ASSURE Personal Project - Phase 5

Materials and Artifacts from Lessons

Phase 5

Evaluate and Revise

• Review conventional and authentic assessments from the lesson to determine learner achievement of standards and objectives.

Within this lesson, students were substantially involved in rating themselves without having to write something down or fill out an exit ticket. By assessing in this fashion, I can quickly generate results from my dancers while in the process of working and save paper. I took a consensus of what students new about PowerPont at the beginning of the lesson to gauge my teaching using a 1-5 finger rating system. Assessing students in this manner kept the flow of the class going and again requiring very little set-up on my part or labor from my students. I frequently use this method because it aligns closely with our schools 1-4 standard grading system and can quickly be used in various ways to establish groups or guide the lesson. By the end of the lesson, I could see a definite change in thinking and use of PowerPoint once important nuances were explained and time was given to play around with various PowePoint tools and options.

• Examine the instructional process and impact of using tech and media.

When dancers sign up to take my class, they are not expecting to learn all of the ins and outs about dancer greater than movement. I originally created this project for dancers who had missed to much rehearsal time to pick up choreography and dancers who have anxiety at a level that could cause more harm than good. In the end, I realized how impactful the media projects were to our first-semester performance and thought all of my students could benefit from learning about other aspects of dance greater than the movement. After doing this project, my dancers should gain a greater appreciation for the behind the scenes work done to put on a quality performance.

                    

• List modifications to lesson to address any concerns.

No changes were made to this particular lesson plan. If I could go back to when I originally created this project for a group of three students, I would have created a clearer timeline of when things were due. I created this project on the fly to give three failing seniors an opportunity to not have my class being a determining factor on why they didn't graduate. I needed something they could do with little supervision and help on my part but failed to keep them truly accountable for getting things done on time.

ISTE 5 Module Digital Citizenship

ISTE 5 Module Digital Citizenship

Triggering Event:

How can we help students understand safety, cultural, and privacy issues related to technology and practice legal and ethical behavior?

Resource:

• Ribble, M. & Miller, T.N. (2013) Educational Leadership in an Online World: Connecting Students to Technology Responsibly, Safely, and Ethically. Journal of Asynchronous Learning Networks, 17:1 (2013): 137-45.

My Triggering Event Question: What expectations and rules can I teach students when doing web-based projects. in regards to using the web safely and protecting personal information?

Standard 5 is such an important element of teaching when implementing technology in the classroom. Teachers are always being pulled in various directions and can never truly monitor each student while they are on the computer. By giving students the resources and expectations needed to search the web appropriately, student productivity and quality of work should increase. The site "Get Safe Online," https://www.getsafeonline.org/protecting-yourself/searching-the-internet/ outlines eight valuable tips on how students can think more critically about what they do when searching the web. 

In the required reading Ribble and Miller remind us that the web has become a breeding ground for Cyber Bullying. This kind of attack on students is harsh because it is not happening on the playground or the classroom in the classic sense, making it harder for teachers to take control of the situation. My concern was the effects my students will feel because they are so willing to share their personal information not only when accessing the internet at school but also in their social media during their own time. Ribble and Miller say " technology has begun to affect students in other aspects of their lives as well (e.g., health, safety, and respect for others)." And I agree. On Snap Chat you can see where my students live, their bedrooms and where they are located or on their way to. This kind of information in the wrong hands, in particular for a young woman, can create a serious issue.

I created my "Triggering Event Question" with the intention to find strategies to teach my students better ways to use the internet/websites in school. Crazily, I got sidetracked by many articles on social media and the number of unfortunate events that accrue. Sadly adolescents are so carefree with who they invite into their lives through social media things like bullying,sex trafficking, and many other horrible events have crept into our student's lives.

In the grand scheme of things, I did not answer my question past my initial search, but I for sure will be more diligent in reminding my students to think before they post and be mindful of who they are sharing information with.

    

ISTE 4 Module- Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making

ISTE 4 Module- Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, and Decision Making

Triggering Event Question

What are ways in which students can use critical thinking skills to plan and conduct research, manage projects, solve problems, and make informed decisions using appropriate digital tools and resources?

My Trigger Event Question

 How can gaming break the ice for reluctant dancers? How can gaming help new dancers memorize choreography?

My Article

http://www.livescience.com/35530-interactive-video-games-children-physical-activity-obesity.html

http://www.newsmax.com/FastFeatures/memory-video-games-computer-games/2016/05/31/id/731571/

Reflection:
After reading the eduTopia article on coding and gaming, the biggest takeaway was in the last paragraph regarding the importance of making a connection to your content through gaming. The report is broken down into three sections based on how gaming should impact students These three ways are:

·         Connect to Content.

·         Connecting Individuals.

·         Connecting with the learner. 

The articles I came across in my search for answers to my questions left me a little unanswered. With that being said, I have had to alter my thinking and questioning to find an article to fit my needs. My question asked if playing dance games would improve dance memory? Nothing was found in regards to dance memory, but in general, a lot of positives were found on video games triggering or stimulating the brain and process that improved thinking. 
Quoted from News Max, "The researchers discovered that playing action video games had a significant positive impact on the subjects’ visual working memory. The key to these action-packed games’ ability to improve memory is related to their rapidly changing environment and complexity, says Psychology Today."


I have my theory based on working with my student, on how gaming has brought various kinds of students together, but I look forward to diving deeper to find more information on confidence building through gaming from an outside perspective.

Reflection II:
I write this last reflection on Module 4 with a feeling of incompletion. I was not able to find any other reliable articles to help me confirm my hypothesis on whether or not playing dance video games would help my student feel more confident and trigger a better choreographic memory. I realize that my subject of interest is still growing in the school of academia and maybe this is my sign to take on the scholarly work needed to give teachers of dance (PE) a sense of security that we can equally service our students by incorporating core standards and technology.

I

ISTE 3 Module Research and Information Fluency

Triggering Event

What are ways in which students can apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information?

Readings:

·         Wong, W. (2014). How technology enables blended learning. EdTech Focus on K-12. Retrieved from http://www.edtechmagazine.com/k12/article/2014/04
/how-technology-enables-blended-learning

My Triggering Question:

·         How effective are blended PE / Health education programs in high schools?

My Reading:

·         Examples of Blended Learning in School Physical Education

From Forbes Magazine

http://sportspath.typepad.com/sports-path-e-learning-bl/2012/11/examples-of-blended-learning-in-school-physical-education-.html

Reflection:

Wong’s article gives us a look into a learning environment that seems too good to be true. Technology for every student and the ability to let students work when they want whenever they want seems more than what some of my kids could handle.  After working in two Title 1 schools, it is real hard to believe that something like a blended school can exist for my students. As I was reading, the first thing that came to mind is what do you do when on the internet is down and you are fighting with the silly tech problems? Are you having students take a computer class to learn core competencies and are staff learning these programs as well? When? I am all for having tech in the classroom and letting students work at their pace, but I also feel our technical dependence is equally alarming.

I found an article from “Forbs Magazine” that has done some research on blended learning in a physical education classroom. I use a PowerPoint and videos every day when I teach health. I admit to not always having the answer and the videos help my students not only find another reason to focus on learning but also hear information from someone more knowledgeable than me. What I did like was seeing how schools are incorporating local fitness centers into their everyday routine. Giving students the opportunity to train and tailor workouts that are more realistic will indeed help in creating lifelong healthy men and women. A blended classroom will look different for every course subject, but again when I think about my students and the kind of school I work at, this sort of freedom depending on their interest could gain positive results or lead to more students putting thing off until the last minute.   

My Reading II

https://www.edutopia.org/practice/blended-learning-making-it-work-your-classroom

My Reflection:

Looking for another article to decide on if my feeling of integrated learning in Health and PE could be answered with more information other than incorporating apps and fit bits, but my answer is no. I feel like people are working to share how physical education is changing but I have yet to see something that is as informative as the resources for reading, writing and math. I have changed my course work this semester to health and am able to better incorporate certain strategies that are closely related to my students major content areas. This Edutopia article  is more on a school wide level, with information for any teacher to think about when transitioning students to a different type of instruction. The best take away for me was, 

"One of the key components of blended learning is to identify what is already working well in your classroom, and what might be better suited as digital content. Teachers need to know that by adding digital content, it doesn’t mean throwing out all the direct instruction in the classroom. Keep what is working well in a face-to-face mode, and add what could be more effective in a digital format. "

"Blended Learning: Making It Work in Your Classroom." Edutopia. N.p., 11 Sept. 2014. Web. 12 Feb. 2017.

I do feel my triggering question has been answered regrinds to integrated learning improving student learning.What I am still not so sure of is the need for everything to have a reason to be connected to some kind of technology.  

Module 2

Learning with Technology - Module 2  

Triggering Event: How can students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others?

            Article: Ertmer, P. A., Newby, T. J., Yu, J. H., Liu, W., Tomory, A., Lee, Y. M., et al. (2011).

Facilitating students' global perspectives: Collaborating with international partners using Web 2.0 technologies (Links to an external site.). The Internet and Higher Education, 14(4), 251–261.

My Triggering Question: Can the use of video chat /video calling with other dancers around the world help to give students a better perspective of dance from a global view?

            My Article: https://www.edsurge.com/news/2016-06-23-five-ways-teachers-can-use-video-chat-in-the-classroom

          New Article: http://www.ingrammicroadvisor.com/unified-communications-and-collaboration/six-advantages-of-video-conferencing-for-education

 (Links to an external site.)

Reflection:

           Technology in my subject area is growing but has yet come to a point where information and research have reached a secondary academic level. Taking a step outside of my interest in dance and fitness, and focusing on the greater idea gave me a much more favorable article search, the idea of students making connections via video chat to give students a global view is rapidly growing in schools around the world. In the article "Six advantages of video conferencing in education" the writers at Ingram Micro Advisor (a blog) provides someone like myself who is not tech savvy to see the essential yet beneficial attributes of video communication. The six benefits are:

• Virtual field trips
• Visits from experts
• Leave no students out
• Save conversations and Materials
• Parent Teacher Conference
• Allow students to travel the wold.

Do I feel I have found answers to justify my triggering question? Yes and no. I was able to find various articles on y topic but none that provided greater thinking past listing what most teachers are using it for. I am do not have computers in my classroom the way other teachers do, but I am now more interested in reserving the computer lab for my students to take part in learning through video chat.  

Module 1 - Triggering Question:

Module 1:

·         Triggering Question- How can students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology?

My Triggering Event Question: Can social media be used to improve student to student connections academically? 

Readings:

·         Module Article: “Exploration of secondary students ‘creativity by integrating web-based technology into an innovative science curriculum.”

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5W5P9bQJ6q0N0xSTnc0bEpZUGM/view (Links to an external site.)

The article I read “…  integrating web-based technology into an innovative science curriculum” has found a way to shed some light on my triggering question. Page two of the article “Theoretical Frameworks,” talks about media/ web-based learning as a creative way to solve problems and engage students in learning on a playing field that is comfortable and failure to them. In my small group dance company my dancers took it upon themselves to create a group chat to send video, organize rehearsals and share last min information. Just in this example and the positive progress of my students, I can answer my question by saying YES, social media is a helpful tool for what I teach. Can I trust all of my students to be responsible with this tool? No, but like any other academic situation a teacher should always use their better judgment when allowing their students to use any tool for the purpose of learning.  Looking deeper into the topic I have come across various other articles that have found a use for social media in the classroom.

How Students Benefit from Using Social Media by Joseph Baker ( ttp://www.edudemic.com/how-students-benefit-from-using-social-media/) is a short but informative article on looking at the bigger picture of students using social media to benefit them past the classroom and into the workplace. Connections, Web Engagement, Knowledge, Social Media Marketing are some of the advantages our students can take part in using social media. I see it much like most things like a double edge sword. My dancers who are willing to work above and what are expected of them have done an excellent job of using social media to stay connected with each other to improve the quality of the group and help everyone be successful.

My dancers take part in three of the four points of the article's reasoning for why social media is beneficial to student growth through group chat.

Connections: are made every time the congratulate each other on achievements, list corrections to make for next rehearsal or planning dates for rehearsal.

Web Engagement: Dancers use the group chat to send a video of rehearsal, music and costume ideas.

Knowledge: Through the utilization of the media dancers are able to retain information to keep them prepared for rehearsals, choreography, and performances.

My question of social media in the classroom was well answered. There is for sure a place for social media in the classroom, but it will need to be treated with respect and taught to be used for the intention to improve student work.  

Reference: "How Students Benefit From Using Social Media." How Students Benefit From Using Social Media - Edudemic. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Jan. 2017.