a k-20 creative design approach to addressing problems of practice in a future ready school setting
TRANSCRIPT
towards future ready: a k-20 community partnership
for teacher & professional development
anita zijdemans boudreau school of learning & teaching, pacific university
aaron persons whitford middle school, beaverton school district
ORATE 2016
how do we stay abreast of continuously changing
information & communication
technologies, and learn how to effectively integrate them into educational practice to support student learning?
HUMAN CENTRED
stakeholders: → 8 teacher candidates→ 3 teachers→ school principal→ faculty instructor listening:
What are some existing problems of practice that might be addressed using technology?
topics identified:I. Differentiating Instruction II. Developing Digital CitizenshipIII. Promoting Computer Science
I. APPS 4 DI What apps might help to differentiate instruction?→ DI indicators→ Evaluation tool
→ App Review
II. DIGITAL CITIZENSHIPWhat activities can be
created to help prepare students for 1:1?
→ Identify DC themes→ Develop resources
III. CODINGHow do we plant a seed for interest in computer
science & coding?
I. APPS4DI → 4 apps in 4 classroomsII. DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP → open educational resource (oer)II CODING → hour of code
DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP
STORYBIRD
3 outcome summaries...
Description: a set of tools to crop an existing online video into segments, customize with voice-overs, audio comments, and embedded assessment questions. Dashboard collects data, shows how much of the video each student watched, answers to questions in the video, and % of correct answers.
In what ways can EDpuzzle implemented through edmodo be used to support DI in a gifted MS science class on density?
96 students → racially diverse, several IEPs, experienced with technology
student feedback: majority agreed that it was useful as a summary tool & a few stated they understood the information for the first time.
How effective are the assessment & feedback features of Nearpod in supporting DI for an eighth grade science class on Matter?
Description: allows teachers to create unit presentations with polls, short answer questions, & quizzes -pre-, formative & summative assessments- to assess a student’s progress and engagement throughout the unit.
student feedback:86.6% enjoyed Nearpod & found it useful. 13% felt indifferent.
THE LEARNING ENVIRONMENT
Positive learning environment for students to answer questions in a safe and secure manner. Responses are anonymous when made public using the teacher functions.
Safe classroom environment.Students work individually & outside distractions limited. Embedded questions: a) increase expectations for watching; b) encourage higher level thinking.
THE CURRICULUM
Supports variety of learning materials (diagrams, videos, pictures, notes, etc.) & assessments (quizzes, open ended questions, fill-in-the-blanks).Provides evidence of “student readiness”, the level of learning, & the progression toward learning objectives.
Students to take in ideas in multiple ways- audio, visual, written.Assessed and analyzed upon completion of the video. Review tool curriculum revisit in class & from home.
THE TEACHERReal-time feedback → students’ responses can be quickly evaluated and used to clarify and review material that has been incorrectly answered
Information delivery not just the teacher talking at students. Immediate in class response & one-on-one interaction.Can check for understanding and address issues immediately.
THE LEARNER
Fully engaged, expected to present insight, and personal responses → “I do not need to answer in front of the entire class so if I get my answer wrong I do not need to be embarrassed”.
Students see what they are learning, how it relates to the larger goals, and how they are being assessed within the activity. Engaging as they are wired into the application with headphones. Peer assessment capability → can analyze the work of others.
Tomlinson, C.A., & McTighe, J., 2006). Tomlinson, C.A., & McTighe, J. (2006). Integrating differentiated instruction & understanding by design. 4 Indicators for DI
In what ways can Schoology be used as an LMS to differentiate instruction?
Description: Allows teachers to connect with students in a learning platform similar to Edmodo and Facebook. Using Schoology, teachers can post homework, feedback, submit attendance and grades.
Some additional features include access to courses,storage for personal and public resources, groups ranging from professional development to technology in education, to content-specific communities.
More Information At: http://barr5160.blogspot.comQuestions? Email: [email protected]
Teacher feedback: “My previous school had been using Schoology for the past three years.”
OER→ 8 DC Themes
→ mini activities→ digital badges?
open educational resource
week of code
Participants:Teacher candidate [former software engineer]School PrincipalLibrary instructional technology teacher (LITT)All 6th, 7th, and 8th grade science teachersApprox 700 students
December 7-11, National Computer Science Ed week. Hour of Code - global event, millions of students participated.
Devices usedChromebooks , Ipads , & MacBooks
What students didEach class had a 90 minute time slot allocated and the teachers put their current unit of study aside and dedicated the entire class to coding.
Milestones:Entire student body participated in Hour of Code.Students wrote a total of 47,893 line of code during this week.
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debrief
“It would personally be more impactful if more staff were involved. The challenge in the time commitment. Personally, I had hoped to learn more technology skills to use in the classroom.”
“It’s a wonderful way for candidates to see what tech related issues are relevant in the schools only a year or so before many of use will seek employment in them.”
Should we continue the partnership work in
the future?
“Student teaching can be a overwhelming experience. This partnership made it easier and more approachable. I also appreciate that the work that was done by the Pacific students was directly applied to real problems at WMS. A lot of time goes into doing assignments, making them real gives it more meaning and ensures that we are in touch with what the problems are that we are learning to solve.”
COLLABORATIVE PARTNERSHIP“Working with the staff & administrator, collaborating with peers.”“ Ability to work together with a group of professionals as part of a learning community.”“ Students did a very thorough research job on their topics and willingly shared their learning.”“ The discussions and brainstorming.”“ The enthusiasm of the students to embrace topics that were valued by the WMS staff.”
AUTHENTIC APPLICATION & PURPOSE“Seeing how some ideas from class might be able to be applied in a real schools.”“Implementing an application in an actual classroom.”“ Authentic experience of working within a school with teachers and administrators to create lasting products that can be adapted by future students”“For my social studies class we made a wiki that felt out of place without any collaborative, practical purpose for creating it”
What did you appreciate?
LACK OF DIRECTION“I enjoyed the freedom of designing our own project but at the same time this made it difficult. I haven't had a class with so much freedom so it was a little bit of a challenge at first.”“There was a bit of a lack of direction in this process and we did a lot of round about actions.”“A more clearly articulated description of what the class can offer both the students and teachers would be helpful .”
TIME CONSTRAINTS“I had hoped to be more actively involved but demands on my time was a challenge.”“Teachers are tired at the end of a day of teaching. I think this is one reason why the participation might be low.”
What were some challenges?
“Nope, great start to an experimental class that should evolve into something ever more important to the day to day working of curriculum at Whitford.“
“Overall, I really enjoyed this course and learned a lot about technology. There are tons of opportunities to integrate tech into our classrooms and I now understand how to use a lot of these resources, which is really exciting!”
“It would be helpful to have a more clear picture in the beginning of the course so I know what to expect.”
Anythingelse?
“I liked this class, but word on the street is that our course load was a little more than the other tech class.”
“Maybe not meet out here every week. Just the occasional check in by visiting the school might work better.”
“Maybe a questionnaire to a prospective teachers inquiring about possible projects they would be interested in having students work on.”
It would be helpful to have a clearer picture of what the goal of the project was beforehand. This is the first time I saw the title of the class: Creative Design Thinking Project. Maybe a copy of the students' syllabus. Thanks for including me!
Anything else? cont’d
“Are you planning on opening this up to other teachers in the BSD who have Pacific student teachers? Depending on the content of the course it may be possible there would be additional teachers willing to attend a Pacific class in Beaverton.
ensure better lead time & strategize how to bring more stakeholders to the table
rethink approach → embed in cooperating teacher classrooms from the start?→ work closely with LITT! prepare teachers in CDT
process?select teacher candidates involved?
next steps
moving beyond the traditional course delivery format is challenging for some teacher candidates
open teaching & learning requires embracing the ‘fuzziness’ and lack of structure, as well as changing perceptions of the instructor’s role
external, schedule, and time constraints engender a “just tell me what & how to do it” mindset
final thoughts...
