Wicked Problem Project

My final project is broken into 5 minute videos because the free version of Jing limits videos to 5 minutes or less.








The problem:
Students need to know how to collaborate with others to complete a group project. Collaboration is a skill that will be used for the rest of their lives, so we need to teach the skills and incorporate it into our classrooms on a regular basis. Technology is also an important component of the classroom, but many technologies do not require true collaborative group work to occur. Many technologies have an option for students to interact with each other using the technology, but collaboration is not required.

The solution:
Use technology as a medium for collaborative group work. By creating a project for students to do as a group that involves technology, students can see how the two directly relate to each other. Using technology is motivating to students, so this is another good strategy to help students engage in cooperative work. The project I thought of is for students to create a group video or TV show to show what they learned from a particular unit. This is great for end of unit assessment and needs to have explicit directions and expectations given multiple times.

TP:
Technology and pedagogy in this project occur as technology aides in presenting what was learned. As part of the group work, students know they need to ask each other their questions before asking the teacher. There will most likely be many questions about the video editing, but many of these questions can be answered by problem solving with each other. Students need to learn to use each other’s strengths while still contributing their own strengths to the group.

TC:
Technology and content overlap as the purpose of the project is to show the learning that occurred in the unit. This is done using video technology. Videos can also be saved and shown to multiple audiences. Learning can continue beyond the students in the classroom as they teach others about the content area. As with projects in real life, students can go back, edit, revise and improve their work until the final product is turned in. Using and learning video editing skills, students work together to show the content.

PC:
Pedagogy and content are shown as students collaborate together to create an accurate representation of the information. They are given creative license, as long as it represents the information accurately. Also, this project requires higher order thinking as students create a new way to show their learning. The level of rigor for this project is high and students are capable of meeting that expectation.

Group Leadership Project

Here is the first version of our Group Leadership Project focused on the Google Applications.




For our project, we decided to use Google Presentation because our project focused on the Google applications. Since we wanted to show the ease of the Google applications, it seemed fitting to use one of them to deliver the tutorial.

As we worked together, there are a few things I would do differently. First, our original collaboration time wasn't with the most effective tool. We used Vyew, a program none of us had used before. Much of our time was spent trying to figure out the program instead of talking with each other about the project. Once we had decided on a topic and split up the work, the majority of the rest of the work was individual. I liked working individually on different aspects of the Google applications, though there are so many of them. Through my research, I learned how much Google has added to its Geo applications, especially Google Earth. I played around with Google Earth quite a bit when it first came out, but haven't spent much time with it since then. Going back now, I am very impressed with how much has been added and the way Google specifically targets educators using their program. It's easy to use and has many resources to connect teachers together.

If I had to do something similar to this again, I would split up the work differently. While it seemed fair to have us all do the same thing - research and create slides about different Google applications - this made the final product a bit harder to put together. Communication became difficult with one person making a decision for the whole group, hoping it was an okay decision. In the end, not all of the presentation made it into the youtube video above due to these miscommunications. It is frustrating at times to work solely through the internet with a group of people who all have their own schedules and agendas. Splitting up different jobs might have been a better way to go about this particular project.

If the entire video is completed, I will repost it.

Professional Learning Plan

Below is a Prezi presentation of my professional learning plan. When I thought about how I want to integrate the technologies learned through these CEP courses, I wanted to make sure my goals were specific and measurable. It is tempting to make grand, elaborate plans to integrate multiple technologies in my teaching in many ways, but this thinking is not realistic for me. Instead, I know I need to take one small step at a time. Having the resources and information to look back on will allow me to incorporate the technologies learned at my own pace. There were so many great ideas, and I want to make sure I use each technology appropriately and effectively.

CEP812 Professional Learning Plan on Prezi

Wicked Problem Part D - Findings and Implications

As I think about this project being implemented in my classroom, my ultimate goal was to have students work effectively in groups while using technology. Effective group work is a challenging thing to measurably assess, but through careful and intentional formal and summative assessments, I can gauge the effectiveness of my plan. First, I will make sure I am consistently monitoring, observing and taking notes about each group. I will create a checklist of things to look for as they are planning and preparing their videos. The types of things I will look for are: participation, listening, compromise, types of activity, and effort. By noting and giving each group frequent feedback, I can track how well they are functioning as a group. I will also require the groups to reflect on themselves throughout the project. How do they think they are working as a group? What do they think about their own efforts and the efforts of each group member? Students can type these reflections up anonymously, and see exactly how their group mates perceive their effort and participation. Part of the summative group work assessment will be another reflection each group member does on themselves as well as each other group member. This reflection will include a description of what was done on an individual level and how the group worked together. I can also use the videos as a reflection of how well the group worked to create a final product. After observing and tracking how each group works throughout the entire project, I will have a pretty good idea as to if the video is a reflection of the whole group or just select members of the group.

The only way this entire project will be successful, including the reflections, is if there is a solid classroom community established with the students. If everyone is honestly working for the success of the group as a whole, not individual success, then group work is a much smoother process. Classroom community begins on the first day of school, so I am excited to begin establishing a positive and encouraging community of learners before even beginning a project like I have planned.

Mobile Learning

This week I joined a conversation about using cell phones in the classroom. You can see a screen shot of my contribution below. I was interested to hear how one classroom 2.0 user took it upon himself to find out which of his students had unlimited texting plans and then communicated with them outside of the classroom through texts. I like that he was so sensitive to the financial aspect of texting plans, but still found a way to connect to many students in a way they were used to communicating. My only concern with using cell phones in the classroom is the potential for them to be used inappropriately. If there were better ways to ensure inappropriate content could be avoided, then I don't think there would be as much controversy to using them in the classroom. Outside the classroom, however, is different and does not require as much monitoring of content.



Using PollEverywhere, I created a poll to test with myself. Since I don't have students at the moment, I just wanted to explore and figure out how to use the program. It was easy to create the poll, but texting or typing in the numbers has the potential to be confusing for younger middle school students. I'm not sure the price would make it worth spending to get the feature of choosing your own words to text in. Here is a screen shot of my poll:



I also explored some of the other options for using mobile learning in the classroom. I really like the idea of using mp3 players in the classroom, both as tools to have students record themselves and for students to listen to a text read to them. Even if the text is the same that they would be listening to themselves or another classmate read, there is something more engaging to a student to be able to use any sort of technology. I was also impressed with the large range of applications available for the iPad and iPod. I would love to be able to use an iPad in my classroom, especially if it was able to be connected wirelessly to the projector. The possibilities are endless when I think about using an iPad in the classroom. The challenge about this is finding the funding and administrative approval to make it happen. Budgets are extremely tight and administrators often find it more beneficial to spend the money elsewhere. I would need to put together a proposal with significant research in order to be approved to purchase an iPad for classroom use, much less several iPads for use in multiple classrooms. I am excited to have the resources and information available as I go into this next school year ready to implement the many technologies I have learned through these CEP courses.