Wicked Problem Project

I had two problems that I was trying to solve.  First, I wanted students to be able to work collaboratively and paperlessly.  Second, I wanted teachers to become more organized, so they can focus on teaching and not on finding papers or assignments.

My solution for both of these problems could be solved using Google applications.  Specifically, Google Docs, Presentations, and Forms.  

Google apps is a great choice for technology because everything is stored online.  Students and teachers alike will no longer have to search for that elusive flash drive or worksheet.  Students can work at their own pace on various assignments which is different for most teachers.  Sometimes students were "left behind" because they didn't understand a concept. The technology will change the way I can present information to students which should help them be more successful.  

For technology and content, I think using Google apps will be brilliant.  Presentations could be made with voiceovers and videos, so students will have options on how they receive information.  Perhaps one student wants to listen to a podcast, while another wants to read the information.  They'll have this choice because as the teacher, I will be able to create presentations that can link to separate options.

Finally, for pedagogy and content, I think Google can help me do a lot more one on one interactions in the class.  Since students will be able to work at their own pace and get more help if needed, they will be more successful.  The content will be able to be presented in various ways, and students could view things that, maybe, my school doesn't have access to, like specimen for dissecting.  Students could still experience a dissection even though I don't have the proper supplies.  Abstract concepts could be presented in three-dimensional videos (the way they should be), so students could visualize.  I could also use Google apps to create vocabulary flash cards or presentations that could be used by students as well.  My classroom will be more organized if I used forms to organize assignments, so I'd have more time to work with individual students.

My students would get feedback more quickly, so they wouldn't have to wait days (days when they're probably forgetting what they learned) to get help if they're struggling.  When I'm more organized, I can give that individual time that they need or the explanation they may need help with or the demonstration of a concept which helps my students learn and retain more.  They love to work on the computers, so I feel as though I'd have a more positive learning atmosphere, and happier students, and when students are happy, they learn more!

Part C Implementation

Implementation

https://www.msu.edu/~heintzju/Part_C_Implementation.mp3

Part D-Findings and Implications

Formative: Did the project get implemented as planned?
We started out thinking that doing Google tutorial wouldn't give us enough information to fill ten minutes, but as we worked on the project, I thought we could possibly go longer than that time frame.  In order to create a good tutorial, we had to go into detail which took up some time.

Summative: Evidence of success in addressing the problem of practice
Our project was dealing with Google documents, so using a Google doc/presentation to complete the project seemed only logical.  I think the tutorial did a good job of teaching someone who had no idea how to use the documents feature of Google.


How would you approach another project of this type differently given what you’ve learned here?

A good tutorial needs to have a little more video.  When I view a tutorial, I'm following step by step the instructions in order to check that I'm doing everything correctly.  I'd like to do another project like this where I can teach other teachers or perhaps students how to do something for class.  For example, I've been thinking about making a tutorial for my students to create their own learning blogs (using Weebly, which is what I use for my class site).  In order to help students, it would have to be very straightforward and simple enough that they could follow instructions without me around.  I'd also like it to be something that they could refer to often if they were struggling.  


What are the lessons learned that others might benefit from knowing about?

Google really is awesome!  Even as I was investigating the very generic presentation we did on Google docs, I found so many other things.  For example, I had no idea you could change your parameters in a search to include specific types of sites.  I also learned that in Google, I can create a specific search and use that to include only the sites I want my students to see.  Voicethread is awesome too, and it's even more awesome on the iPad.  When I tried to use my cursor to circle things and draw arrows, etc. on the computer, they weren't great, but then I discovered VT had a FREE app on the iPad and I was circling and drawing with precision just using my finger or a stylus.  It was really great.  Jing is a lot of fun as well, although when I tried to use it to record myself making the form, I learned that it didn't give me a file that could work with VT.


In what ways will you endeavor to do the same project again, and what will you change or not do?

I would do a project like this again; I'm on a mission to become a Google expert.  I think it's one of the few programs that we as teachers can feasibly expect to have access to any place.  It really contributes to the "anywhere, anytime" learning initiative.  Many other programs that we use are great as well, but they're not necessarily as accessible as Google.  I'd like to find a program that is more a combination of Jing and Voicethread because it would allow me to talk over a video (instead of just pictures or slides); and of course, I'd like it to be free.  Maybe there is one, but I haven't discovered it yet.

Professional Learning Plan

This was tough!  I think I must have had too many choices!  Enjoy!

Group Leadership Project

Christina and I did our tutorial about how to use Google Docs in the classroom, either for student work or to help teachers.  Since we were encouraging the use of Google Docs, the logical choice was to do our presentation using Google Docs.  In order to talk over the project and use some visual aids, we also used Voicethread in order to record instructions and draw attention to specific items on the different pages.

While Christina and I were developing our project, I learned that I really dislike doing projects that have step-by-step instructions.  I think that I do that step-by-step process anyway, but I think when a project is done in that way it isn't always conducive to changes that may help along the way.  I don't mind having a starting point, but I felt like we were bound by what we'd decided at the beginning.  I'm sure I'm in the minority about tracking the progress of a project like this, but I like to have to freedom to try something, then say, "Scratch that; this isn't going to work" and begin with something else.  

That being said, I learned I really liked using Voicethread.  I started by completing my portion of the project using VT on my computer, then I learned that there was an application for the iPad, and I completed the rest of it on the iPad.  The iPad app was brilliant!  It made circling and writing on the presentation so much easier (by using a stylus) and the sound was much better!  I plan on using VT on my iPad much more.  My students are getting iPads for the classroom next year, and VT is definitely one of the programs I'm asking my administrators to put on them!

I will definitely be doing more presentations like this for my classes!  Our project really focused more on how teachers can use Google Docs for organization and collaboration, etc., but I think I'd like to do presentations like this for a class website.  It would be a great way to have students watch/listen to lectures, and using VT to write and draw on the presentation would allow me to bring attention to specific parts of the lecture.  For example, if I were composing a lesson on DNA, I could be sure to highlight/circle new vocabulary terms and perhaps break them down to help students remember them.  


Julie and Christina's Google Docs Tutorial

Mobile Learning Lab

I was really intrigued by the numerous ideas of using Flipcameras in the classroom.  There were so many great projects that could be used in many different curricula.  I liked the idea of making videos with students tutoring/teaching another student a hard topic, ie. some math topic.  I'm a big fan of my students creating videos of themselves performing labs.  I think this would be great to have students create vodcasts doing different labs over the semester or year and then having a library of them for future use.  I'd love to do a videocast that would demonstrate the safety rules in a lab, for instance.  Using iPads, iPods, et cetera makes doing research a snap.  There are a couple of free applications that are very beneficial to science in particular.  It's known that students learn as many new terms in biology as they do in the first year of a foreign language.  There is a free app called "Science Glossary" which gives definitions to numerous terms.  It would be beneficial so students wouldn't have to keep asking what things were; they could look it up in a snap and continue with the lesson.  They'd get to concentrate on the science, and not on the difficulty of the vocabulary.  

I'm a big fan of the Poll Everywhere.  I thought that would be a great way to do either a bellringer or exit ticket.  It would give me an idea of how students did with the previous day's lesson or the current day's lesson in a few moments.  It would also give students an opportunity to contribute to the class via text.  Even shy students who aren't usually very vocal in class (and sometimes get lost in the shuffle) would be able to contribute.

There is the inevitable challenge of students getting off task if they are allowed to use mobile devices.  However, I think if the rules are made very clear when the tasks are explained, then students will know the consequences of going off task immediately.  For example, if they are to be using their cell phones for completing a survey in class, then that's all they should be doing.  I feel that they need clear cut rules at the beginning.  If they're caught on Facebook, and it's not Facebook time, then they lose points for that day or assignment.  It will be easier to establish clear rules right from the beginning.  I'm amazed at how much knowledge my students can share when they're allowed to do research on their phones or iPods.  They like using the devices to help them find answers.  What they don't know is that I'm secretly trying to teach them how to problem-solve.  :)

PART B - Storyboard and Script

Julie & Christina's Google Project

Here's a very rough storyboard of our Google project.  Christina and I are both interested in moving beyond Google as just a search engine.  I'm most interested in using Google to help me go paperless in my classroom, since we have recently started a 1/1 Laptop program.  I want to be able to organize assignments, quizzes, and tests, and store all of them on the "cloud" so I won't have to juggle different drives, computers, etc.  Google has embraced the idea of helping out education, so I feel like this would be an ideal collaboration tool.

Christina and I are still deciding what the best representation of our project would be.  Ideally, making a YouTube video would just strengthen our case for Google or I like the idea of making a StAIR, which could be more interactive (though I'm not sure how well that would work).  I think our tutorial will be helpful for teachers who have a little background about Google, but don't really know all the possibilities of the site.

PART B - Application of TPACK

I have chosen Google applications, specifically Google Docs (documents, presentations, and forms), to help me teach my courses.  Google is a great technology for many reasons.  It stores everything online, so there will be no more excuses of lost flash drives or no printers or lost papers, etc.  Students can work together on projects.  I like this idea because I like to have my students do presentations, and often it turns out that one person has done all the work, yet both get the credit.  Using the revision history feature of Google Docs will create some ownership for all parties of a group to contribute.  As the teacher, I feel that I'll be able to comment on more students' work using Google because I can comment on their progress.  I can just go to the document or presentation or whatever, and comment instead of having to track down students to show me their work.  It will help me be very proactive in my students' learning.  Using Google forms will allow me to go paperless and create a more organized and productive setting, which will, in turn, help me become a better teacher.

Using Google to create my own presentations and documents for students will allow me to create a more interactive environment for students.  For example, I'll be able to create a lecture that could include video, audio, and text, and students could choose what path they'd like to follow.  I could make a presentation that shows a video of mitosis, so students could see a three dimensional representation of the process.  Hopefully that would make it easier to understand what it happening and how it looks in a cell.  Students could create presentations or documents where they make their own drawing or animation, which would help me figure out if they're really understanding the concepts being taught.

Using Google presentations will allow me to create a more flipped classroom.  Instead of me lecturing to the students, they could view lectures at home, then bring in questions during class.  I'm hoping to have students use this in order to experience the cell cycle or genetics in a more active way.  I can do more problem based projects for students and they'll be able to do more research on their own, then bring in questions to me, so I can help them during class.  I want to have a more active class and I think that flipping the classroom will let me get more interaction with the students on a personal level.

PART A - Description of Need or Opportunity

Description of a need or opportunity in the classroom

In most of my classes today, we are trying to incorporate literacy as well as science.  There is a huge drive right now for STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math).  As a science teacher, I'm hoping to focus on science AND technology by using Google Docs.  Google Docs is an excellent collaborative source that allows students to work in groups on the same document or spreadsheet or presentation at the same time!  It's genius.  There will be no more, "I forgot it at home" or "I lost my flash drive" as Google is web-based and students can access it from anywhere.  As an educator, I like that I can see the revision history and see what students have contributed in the project.  I know that many times in group work, one or two people end up doing the entire project while some others just ride their coattails.  I think that Google Docs will help create accountability for all students. 
Many schools are going to 1/1 Laptop or iPad programs and I think that Google Docs and all the possibilities that Google encompasses will allow teachers and students to move toward a more paperless classroom.  I am excited to use Google Docs in place of paper assignments.  I think it's wonderful to be able to create a lesson, then put a worksheet into Google Docs, and set up links to videos or demonstrations or animations of hard concepts, so students can just click on the example and extra help will be right there.  Using the presentation of Google Docs will be helpful in that same way; students can review lecture notes and teachers can upload videos or links right into the presentation, so students will have access on their laptops. Hopefully, it will help reach all learning types by using more technology.  I like the forms part of Google Docs as well; it helps create online quizzes or tests, which can be used formatively or summatively.  Creating an exit ticket in forms will help me realize if students understood the topic of the day or if it needs to be retaught in a different way.  I'm looking forward to creating a project which will allow me to share all these ideas with others.

A Funny Thing Happened With Technology

Most of the time, technology in my class just makes me angry.

http://www.msu.edu/~heintzju/Tech_story.mp3

Part A Brainstorm Session

I met Christina via Skype.  I’ve used the web one before, and if there are a lot of people on the network, then it gets very slow, and becomes more of a chat room or audio conversation instead of a video conference.  For the two of us, Skype was a great option because we both have it on our mobile device/computer.  We discussed a little bit about what we’re hoping to accomplish with our WPP.  We both like the idea of using edtech to have our classrooms be more paperless.  By using Google and all its applications, students would have access to Google presentations, Google docs, and teachers could use the Google forms for various assessments.  Christina is going to focus more on Google presentations and I will focus on creating assessments using Google forms.  I think Google presentations are awesome for teachers because they can be used in the traditional sense OR they can be used individually by students.  Currently, my district is piloting a 1/1 Laptop program so I’m going to try to use them individually.  Perhaps they could be used as STAiRS, so students could work at their own pace, and assess themselves.  I’m becoming more familiar with Google forms, and have used them for a simple formative assessment as an exit ticket to assess whether students had understood the lab they’d just completed.  I feel that in edtech we should be using something like this in order to have the students access the technology more, and learn its full capabilities.  Most of the jobs in the “Digital Age” are going to revolve around technology and being technologically capable, so I feel that anything we can do as teachers would be beneficial to our students.

Our screencast: Julie and Christina Skype Meeting

All Things Casting

Final Reflection CEP 811

I really enjoyed learning about the stand alone resources. I had always wondered how people made them, but learning that they were just a presentation was really wonderful. I never knew that Powerpoint (which is what I used) was capable of doing so much. It was great to see how to incorporate instant feedback for students using the program. I think these would be great resources for students who may need some extra help in class or need to have that hands on interaction.

Web based technologies are great. Using MERLOT was fantastic; I really liked being able to contribute my own work, but then browse other people's as well. However, because I had so many internet problems this course bouncing from hotel to hotel, I also learned that relying heavily on technology sometimes has its downfalls. The school where I'm teaching here in Germany has extremely limited internet, and things like streaming videos, are very hard if many people are using the internet. We've been told the bandwidth has been increased, but the speed of the computers lends evidence to the contrary. I do love using web pages in the classroom because they help to alleviate many of the problems that may come up. For example, I upload all my worksheets and presentations onto my class website. If a student is absent, they can go onto the site and download and print a copy of any worksheet that was missed, or lecture that they didn't hear. Students can also see exhibitions of their work on a class website. Sites can also be used to communicate with parents; by posting schedules, videos, and worksheets, parents can view the site to witness exactly what their students are completing (or expected to complete) in class. I also put links to videos on my site, so students can watch videos or see diagrams in action, and then maybe they'll be able to visualize a concept better.

I haven't met all my goals for technology integration yet. First, my class doesn't have enough computers to do full fledged technology lessons. I've been trying to work it so that I can do rotating lessons for students, and then they will each have an opportunity to use the technology. I teach in 90 minute blocks, so rotating is a great way to keep the students interest.

I love when teachers ask about new goals; I do it myself all the time. Of course I have new goals. Any time I learn something new, I usually end up creating new goals. I'm definitely going to start designing more StAIRs. I really think they'd be useful in teaching biology. My break begins the day after tomorrow, so I'll have some time to go through the book and pull out some information to make more StAIRs for the material we will be covering. Some of the concepts are at the molecular level, so students may have a hard time picturing what is happening. I want to put in more videos and animations to help students witness different processes. I'm going to continue to use sites like MERLOT where I can contribute some of my ideas and borrow ideas from other teachers. I like getting ideas from MACUL space as well because I think most of my greatest ideas have been inspired by the work of others. I liked seeing many people sharing different technologies because it always makes me happy when people share. My short term goal is to try to develop StAIRs for my next few chapters, but my long term goals are to keep learning more. The more I know, the better teacher I can become.

Face to Face Instructional Strategies

Online Teaching Experiences

I would love to be able to use something like Moodle or Blackboard in my class to give students access to all assignments and reduce paper usage as well. Being able to post lectures and examples of lab set ups would be wonderful to use. Students could review lecture notes or see a lecture if they have missed class. Posting videos of lab set ups would save a lot of time explaining how to complete experiments, especially if a student were absent. It would also allow students to go through videos at their own pace and pause or rewind if needed. Moodle or Blackboard wouldn't necessarily teach just one piece of content; they could help the overall essence of the classroom.

As a science teacher, some of the online technologies that would help me most when teaching specific content would be the online field trips or the online simulations. Many times I don't have access to places that show my students science in action, so online field trips would be great. Many times we discuss topics in class that students do not understand because it doesn't affect them directly (we all know teenagers are keenly focused on themselves), so being able to take a field trip to a lab where scientists are doing stem cell research or seeing what an archeological dig looks like would be very beneficial to them. Perhaps even doing an online field trip at a museum where there is vast evidence of evolution or skyping with someone who is on the Galapagos Islands would help students broaden their visions of the world. It would be great to have them interact with scientists in the field and then create blog posts about the experience.

I think having a class wiki would be one of the most difficult technologies to use, and not because using a wiki is hard. I've noticed that with the internet becoming so commonplace that plagiarism runs rampant, and many students don't know how to formulate their own thoughts without plagiarizing. It seems like a lot of a teacher's time would be checking on students' posts to make sure they weren't stolen from somewhere else.

Universal Design for Learning

I have spent quite a bit of time reading through all the background information about UDL, and I feel as though it was a bit of a waste. I don't mean that as an attack on anyone, but everything that was presented to me is just good teaching. It started out by saying that UDL was used to adapt lessons for students with disabilities or who were classified as English as a Second Language (ESL). It then went on to talk about how the principles can be used to design lessons for all students. Well, duh! We are in an age of education where adapting lessons has become the norm. I feel that the UDL principles are what good teachers use to present material to students in a variety of ways, except that the terminology of what the teacher is doing is different. I'm very disappointed in this lesson because it was such a waste of time on something that teachers SHOULD already be doing. If they're not, then we can't classify them as good teachers. Of course I take my lessons and try to accommodate students who are more kinesthetic learners or who are more visual learners or more auditory learners. That's what good teaching is! It's taking information and adapting it to reach as many students as possible. Perhaps when I evaluate my lessons, I don't use the exact terminology found in the UDL principles, but I definitely try to "Provide multiple means of representation" which means to show the same thing in different ways. I also try to "Provide multiple means of action and expression" which means that I try to involve my students in lesson and give them options to express their knowledge. And I most definitely try to "Provide multiple means of engagement" which means I try to draw on experiences that they may have had or make topics relevant to their lives. I'm actually insulted by the content of this lesson because it seems to imply that good teachers didn't realize that they had students of all different abilities in their classrooms!

MERLOT Evaluation

For the MERLOT evaluation, I chose to evaluate a website. The site was called "Awesome Science Teacher Resources" and AWESOME they were! The site focuses on biology and chemistry topics in the classroom. All of the topics were completely relevant to the class that I am currently teaching, from cellular transport to photosynthesis. The site is broken down by subject area, topic, and finally, activities, labs, and links. There is a plethora of information on the various topics, including different activities that students can do, experiments that they can perform, and other websites they can look at to get additional information.

Any of the material on the site could be used in the classroom immediately. While I was browsing the site, I found a few activities that I'll be trying immediately in my next class. All of the national standards for biology are listed, so it's easy to see how the activities listed link to the standards. Most of the activities have a clear objective/purpose for the lessons listed. I did find a couple that didn't have the objective listed, but overall, most did. There were a lot of interactive type of things that students and faculty could use; for example, there was a Jeopardy game that teachers could use for a class game, or students could use in small groups to test their knowledge. I could use this immediately in my class because I have enough computers to divide my classes into small groups. Looking at all the assignments, I see that most would be easily incorporated into my classes.

The website is visually pleasing, and it has a lot of information. It's extremely easy to use. I like the site because it's laid out in an efficient manner. One click allows users to download something they want to see. Some activities are in PDF and some are in Word. I like both; either can be edited if need be. Students could use this site, but it is a better tool for teachers who are looking for supplemental information on certain topics.

Personal Learning Reflection

CEP 810 has helped me learn a lot about technology that I can incorporate into my teaching. I have learned about RSS feeds, and although it is not something that I like to use, I have envisioned some uses for it in the classroom. For example, it can help students create a list of credible sources for different topics. I also really liked learning how to embed a Google Calendar into a blog or website! I like to give my students as much notice as possible about upcoming and future assignments; I realize that they have a lot going on in theirs lives (much like me) and sometimes need more advanced notice of assignments, tests, and projects. Even though our SIG project wasn't exactly what was expected, I learned a ton about Google and all the possibilities that Google can be used for in a classroom! I had no idea about Google Scholar and Google Docs and Forms; it really opened my eyes. Using a bookmarking tool was genius, so I could find information easily. The last thing that really struck me was doing the Creative Commons Lab and making sure that I register media that is put on the Internet. I thought that was very informative. Everything that has been taught in this course is great because it can all be used from the Internet, and I don't need certain programs to run them on school computers. Making specific requests for school computers is a hassle because sometimes software isn't free or it's blocked or any number of excuses why teachers can't have it. This course allowed me to see how a number of things can be done on the Internet without dealing with those problems.

I'm very proud of the lesson that I devised for teaching Osmosis in collaboration with my sister's biology class in a different school. This lesson combined a lot of what I hope to accomplish with technology. I want to encourage students to collaborate with others, but I don't want them to be limited. I want them to think broader and I hope that working with students from Chicago while we're in Germany will help them think big! It really showed that technology can unite people.

I feel that I have accomplished some of my goals. I learned how to integrate more technology in my class. I used Google Docs to have students collaborate on projects with people in other time zones. I embedded a Google Calendar into my class website. There are a few goals I have not accomplished. The big one is that I wanted to learn how to create a site where I could have each student log in and create their own blog on a universal class site. It's all right, though; you can't win them all. I'll get to this eventually.

Newer goals, for me, just mean thinking bigger! How can I get more computers in my classroom? How can my school increase the bandwidth so we don't have as many Internet problems? When will I have time to develop that class blogging website? How can I reach out to teachers all over the world to try to skype or facetime with them and create new global lessons? I will accomplish these goals by talking to people. It's amazing what can be learned or done when one simply talks to people. People have great ideas, and I need to draw from them all.

Personal Technology Plan

Learning Styles

Everyone learns differently.  I don't think that any person has only one particular way they learn; rather, they learn by a combination of different styles.  I believe that I learn by both visual and auditory means.  I enjoy a good presentation, and can recall what things look like and where they were placed during a presentation.  I also enjoy listening to people talk and share experiences during a good lecture.  These examples would suggest that I'm both a visual learner as well as an auditory learner.  However, I was/am an athlete, and I learned a lot during basketball or volleyball or softball by practicing things over and over again; by doing!  I guess that also makes me a kinesthetic learner as well.  Can I be all three?  Are some more present than others? 

I feel that I was taught and exposed to all different types of strategies while I was growing up, which makes me more apt to learn information in varying styles.  I feel that students, while they may be predisposed toward one type of learning, can still learn by the other types if they are exposed to them at a young age.  I guess there is a reason youth is called "the formative years".  I firmly believe that although we may have predispositions, we can be shaped by our experiences.  That's probably the scientist in me coming out; wanting to debate 'nature vs. nurture.' 

Many students haven't been exposed to all ways of learning, and it is extremely hard to accommodate all learning styles in one lesson.  However, I believe that being a good teacher means taking information and presenting it in a variety of ways to try to include all kinds of learners.  For example, perhaps there can be a lecture, a hands-on activity, and a demonstration which could possibly reach all learners.  Who knows, maybe it'll even help students who are predisposed to one learning style begin to make connections of a topic in another learning style?