CEP 812: Part C Implementation

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CEP 812: Part B Storyboard and Script

Our team has decided to teach the technology tool Google Docs. We have been meeting using Skype and have divided four areas of learning pertaining to Google Docs. We have been working collaboratively inside of a Google Doc where we have included a time line of work, group member responsibilities, and now have included links to our storyboards and scripts. I have chosen to cover Google Presentations and created a Google Presentation to use as my storyboard tool. The script I have written to accompany my storyboard is located within our group's Google Doc. Our project is still a work in progress. We will have to meet again to figure out how work will be distributed for the final project and which presentation tool we will for our final project.
Here is the link to our groups Google Doc, here you will find our scripts and the links to our storyboards.
Here is the specific link to my Google Presentation storyboard.

CEP 811: Wiki Lab

When I searched for my school and district on Wikipedia a page did not exist. I created a Wikipedia account and added a page for Conner Creek Academy East School. CCAE is the school district that I am apart of. More specifically, I teach at Michigan Collegiate Middle and High School in Warren, MI. I have attached a screenshot of the post here.

I also created a Wiki using Wikispaces for the National Honor Society chapter at my school. I am the head advisor and I thought creating a Wiki for all the members to use would be beneficial. The link to my Wiki can be found here.

CEP 811- UDL Guidelines

I think I do a relatively good job providing alternatives within my curriculum. From completing the UDL checklist I definitely see where there is room for improvement. I need to focus on providing more structure for students while they're working independently, providing them with a rubric, task list, helping them set completion goals, etc. Below is the completed checklist.

UDL Guidelines - Educator Checklist
I. Provide Multiple Means of Representation	Your notes
1. Provide options for perception
1.1 Customize the display of information	Feature: Students follow along on their own computers and the Starboard. Students can also use magnification tools on the computer.
1.2 Provide alternatives for auditory information	Feature: As I teach the lessons I read the steps aloud to the students while completing them. There is also a program available on the computer called Magic that provides text to speech.
1.3 Provide alternatives for visual information	Feature: I use a lot of visuals with my presentations, video clip, text graphics, etc.
2. Provide options for language and symbols
2.1 Define vocabulary and symbols	Feature: Students can use online dictionary.
2.2 Clarify syntax and structure
2.3 Decode text or mathematical notation
2.4 Promote cross-linguistic understanding	Barrier: In English only.
2.5 Illustrate key concepts non-linguistically	Feature: Using Starboard and spreadsheet software to display information.
3. Provide options for comprehension
3.1 Provide or activate background knowledge	Feature: Students must use skills gained from previous projects and lessons to complete the final project.
3.2 Highlight critical features, big ideas, and relationships
3.3 Guide information processing	Feature: Teacher guides students through initial stages.
3.4 Support memory and transfer	Feature: Discussion about the benefits of budgets in the real world.

II. Provide Multiple Means of Action and Expression	Your notes
4. Provide options for physical action
4.1 Provide varied ways to respond	Feature: Students could use many programs to create their spreadsheet (Google, Excel, etc.)
4.2 Provide varied ways to interact with materials	Barrier: Students must use a keyboard to complete project.
4.3 Integrate assistive technologies	Feature: Assistive technologies for visual and auditory available on computer.
5. Provide options for expressive skills and fluency
5.1 Allow choices of media for communication	Feature: Students able to choose program for their spreadsheet.
5.2 Provide appropriate tools for composition and problem solving	Feature: Use of web applications
5.3 Provide ways to scaffold practice and performance	Feature: Teacher guided practice with student representative.
6. Provide options for executive functions
6.1 Guide effective goal setting	Barrier: No rubric for students to follow
6.2 Support planning and strategy development	Barrier: No rubric for students to follow
6.3 Facilitate managing information and resources	Barrier: No rubric for students to follow
6.4 Enhance capacity for monitoring progress	Barrier: No rubric for students to follow, check list, or feedback until project is completed.

III. Provide Multiple Means of Engagement	Your notes
7. Provide options for recruiting interest
7.1 Increase individual choice and autonomy	Feature: Students choose however they want to design their dream rooms.
7.2 Enhance relevance, value and authenticity	Feature: Budgeting and designing a room or home makes a real world connection.
7.3 Reduce threats and distractions	Barrier: Students need more structure during independent practice (rubric, checklist, goal setting, etc.)
8. Provide options for sustaining effort and persistence
8.1 Heighten salience of goals and objectives	Barrier: Need a rubric or task sheet
8.2 Vary levels of challenge and support	Barrier: Students are expected to create the same piece of work.
8.3 Foster collaboration and communication	Barrier: No collaboration, individual project.
8.4 Increase mastery-oriented feedback	Barrier: No feedback until project is graded; students need a rubric to follow.
9. Provide options for self-regulation
9.1 Guide personal goal-setting and expectations	Barrier: No rubric
9.2 Scaffold coping skills and strategies	Barrier: No checklist
9.3 Develop self-assessment and reflection	Barrier: The only student feedback is the project after it has been graded.

CEP 812- Part B: Application of TPACK

     The focus of my WICKED problem project is to use social networking in the computer classroom as a means of providing immediate feedback to students to help promote achievement. Providing immediate feedback to students is very important in order to keep students engaged in material and motivating to continue learning. It is very important to have a blended solution of this problem by applying the principals of the TPACK.
     The technology that I plan on using is a free social networking site like Twiducate or Edmodo. With these social networking sites I am able to create classes, form discussions, post projects and resources, post polls and surveys, and allow students to turn in work. Creating a social networking site for my classes allows me to stay in constant communication with my students. Communication among students and teachers is extremely important, especially when it pertains to providing feedback. Not only does creating a social networking site allow me to provide instant feedback to my students, but it allows students to provide instant feedback to one another.
     The content of the computer courses that I teach for middle school students includes things like computer history, using the Internet, creating documents, presentations, databases, cyberbullying, using social media, etc. The problem that I am addressing is providing immediate feedback to students to promote achievement. Using social networking in the classroom I will be able to provide feedback to students on projects, assignments, journals, discussions, and the like digitally and instantly. Also, students will be able to provide feedback to one another using this tool. Using the social network to post polls and surveys relating to content allows students to provide me with feedback on things we have covered and may possibly need to cover again. Working within this instant and collaborative environment will help students develop a deeper content knowledge, ultimately promoting higher achievement levels.
     The overall goal of this project is to create a well-organized, virtual work environment for students to use as a means for creativity and collaboration in the computer classroom that allows the teacher and students to provide immediate feedback to one another as a way to increase student achievement. This tool will be used throughout the entire year for management and organization of numerous assignments, not just one.
   
   
   

CEP 812- Web Conferencing

    For our brainstorming session our group tried numerous avenues for web conferencing. We kept striking out. We tried Webhuddle and not every member could access it. We tried Yugma, but realized only three people could join a conference. We tried Microsoft 365 and not every member could access that. We were working in our group's live chat on Angel as we tried these different programs. We ended up having to settle with Skype because it was the only one we could get to work for all of us.
    Skype is a pretty cool program that allows for video web conferencing and chat. It seemed very easy to set up and use. Actually, not everyone in our group was extremely familiar with Skype having only used it a few times in the past. It seemed a though there weren't as many features as far as web conferencing is concerned within Skype as I've seen with other programs; i.e. whiteboards. I think the next time our group gets together to work on our project we should try Vyew. That is one program we seemed to forget about during our quest to find a software program we could all use.
     As far as using web conferencing software in the classroom, I think that could be very beneficial to students. You can use web conferencing for all sorts of things in the classroom like virtual field trips, conferencing with other classrooms around the world, and maintaining a virtual classroom outside of school. I think this could also be beneficial to special needs students who may not be able to attend school regularly or who fall behind in class as well. Another benefit is that teachers can have "virtual" office hours if students would like assistance after school.

CEP 812 Part A: Brainstorm Session

     For our Group Leadership Project our group members attempted many avenues to brainstorm. We were unsuccessful with many. We tried Webhuddle with little to no avail. One of our group members had a difficult time accessing the site. We also were not very impressed with Graphical User Interface associated with the program. It felt out of date and difficult to use. While trying these different software programs we were all active in our live chat session on Angel. Next, we tried Yugma. Which would not have worked because you must have a paid account to allow more than three people to conference and have meetings longer than 15 minutes. We then tried Microsoft 365 and one of the group members had a difficult time accessing that site as well. After about 45 minutes of trial and error we decided to go with Skype. We were all able to access it very easily. Because we were using Skype we weren't really able to record the session so we Skyped and created a Google Doc for collaboration purposes. We also took random screenshots at different points during our brainstorm session.
     It was very advantageous for our group to use Skype simply because it seemed like it was the only software program we could get to work for every member of our group. We were able to video and voice conference with one another. Using Google Docs was also a benefit for our group because as we brainstormed in Skype we were able to collaboratively create a document.
     Below is the link to the Google Doc we created as a group. Within the Google Doc are three links that are screenshots of the brainstorming session we had and also the details of the project including assigned portions and a timeline for completion.

Google Doc

   

CEP 812- Part A: Description of Need or Opportunity

The educational need that I plan to address in my WICKED problem project is providing students immediate feedback to promote achievement. I have noticed that many lectures tend to be one sided with teachers closely followed a detailed lesson plan that doesn’t allow much room for experimentation. I have also noticed by walking down the hallways that many teachers have stacks of papers that pile up on their desks; myself included. What does this lack of immediate feedback do for our students? When students are provided with immediate feedback, especially during instruction, I think they are more likely to remain engaged in the material and motivated to learn. Providing immediate feedback is two fold. When teachers provide immediate feedback to students pertaining to learning, this gives teachers an insight to student performance. Teachers are able to make course improvements and re-teach areas where students may be struggling.

            I plan to address this issue in my WICKED project by finding educational technology tools that will aid both students and teachers in providing immediate feedback to one another. I plan on presenting both Web 2.0 tools that are available because of their low cost to the classroom. I also want to look into the use of Student Response Systems in the classroom. SRS’s may have some cost attached to them depending on the type of technology purchases, but the benefits are plentiful. By implementing these tools, students and teachers will benefit from the immediate feedback they provide each other as far as learning and achievement, course direction and improvement. It will benefit the school as a whole and promote long term achievement among both students and teachers. It also eliminates many of those pesky papers that have a tendency to pile up!

The scope of this solution will eventually be a school wide solution. I will start the implementation into my own classroom. Then, I would like to train teachers to use these tools in their classrooms so the benefits can be far-reaching. The tools that I plan to use can be incorporated into each teacher’s classroom. They can decide which of the tools presentation will work best for them and more cohesively with their curriculum.

During my research I was able to find some websites that focus on the issue of immediate feedback. One was called “Turning Technologies.” According to Turning Technologies, “Classroom use of response devices has the potential to create far-reaching impacts, for both students as well as teachers. SRS’s  support both teaching and learning by providing immediate feedback, actively engaging students, increasing student motivation, and providing a variety of interactive assessment opportunities.” The website primarily is a sales site that promotes the sales of the student response systems; however, they do provide data and research to discuss the benefits of these in the classroom. Another website that I found is about a very cool social networking tool called Twiducate. Social networking websites are another way for students and teachers to provide instant feedback to each other on the work they are doing in class. Twiducate allows teacher to create a private social network for their classrooms.

So what do I plan to do in this course to make this solution come to fruition? Well, I would like to develop a system for providing immediate feedback during instruction, independent practice, and outside the classroom. Since the concept of Web 2.0 is so large and seemingly overwhelming, I will develop a list of the best resources for feedback and organize them in a way that a specific system of incorporating feedback into the classroom can be cohesively applied to the current curriculum.

To ensure that my WICKED project is successful I will be implementing these feedback resources into my own curriculum because it is an area within my personal classroom that needs improvement. When my classes begin in the fall, these tools for feedback will be used. I’m also planning on sharing these tools with the rest of my colleagues in hopes that they will be able to effectively integrate them into their classrooms as well.

MERLOT Evaluation

MERLOT Evaluation

I choose to evaluate Prezi from MERLOT because it is an amazing program that I use in my classes already. Prezi is a zooming presentation software program based in the clouds. You must create an account to use the software. Any presentations that are created are saved to the account and can be accessed from any computer with a reliable Internet connection.

Quality of Content

Prezi is an amazing presentation tool. It takes the traditional style of slide presentations and transforms the idea into a visually entertaining and appealing zooming presentation. Prezi allows creators to show the big picture and zoom in to the details. It inspires creativity among users and gives them a drawing board for connecting ideas. Prezi allows me to create visual appealing presentations for my students. I use these presentations for lectures and discussions.

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching-Learning Tool

Prezi is a great teaching tool. I have used it before during lectures and for discussions in my classroom. It can be used for digital storytelling, lectures, concept presentations, reviews, etc. It is the best presentation tool out there for self expression and inspiring creativity among its users. Not only have I used Prezi as a teaching tool. I have had students create their own Prezi's as well. They have complete control over the creation and design of their presentations. Prezi is also a great tool for collaboration as groups can be set up and students can share their work and collaborate with one another.

Ease of Use

Prezi is extremely easy to use. It uses a basic editor tool called the zebra that is easy to follow. Every time a new Prezi is created that small tutorial is available to help users in case they have forgotten anything. All created projects are saved within your account and can be accessed from anywhere. If no Internet access is available, presentations can be downloaded directly to the computer. I think it would be very easy for students and other teachers to create a Prezi on their own. Younger students may need a little more guidance. There are many features that Prezi has to offer with little difficulty to learn how to use.

CEP 812 Intro Screencast

Here is the link to my Personal Intro Screencast:

CEP_812_screencast