Moving forward with Inquiry & Literacy

As I began this class I had previously had had students mainly perform research using preapproved sites where I provided the questions and the websites that were to be used to collect the information to answer the questions. During this course I have learned a great deal about the process of teaching students to use the web more effectively. Prior to this course I had always felt that it was best for the teacher to locate the websites to be used to prevent students from encountering any incorrect information or inappropriate information. This belief has caused me to be very restrictive in my web based activities in the past. I now realize that by doing that I am actually restricting my students’ ability to learn and develop the skills that they need to be literate in the web 2.0 society that we are living in today. In the future I plan to allow students more instruction in the evaluation of websites for accuracy and having relevant information and I will do this at the beginning of the year. Students go home and have virtually unlimited access to the internet, if we do not teach them to be critical consumers when they are in a monitored environment (such as school), they are not going to learn the skills when they are accessing the internet at home.

I have just begun a new project with my students where they are having a great deal of freedom to select the project topic, develop essential questions, and to locate the resources to be used. Honestly, I do not think I would have attempted such a project if it wasn’t for this course. I am giving the students a great deal of freedom when it comes to the topic, as it must expand upon any of the standards we have learned this year. However I am adding more rigor to the assignment because the students must do more than just define/research the topic, instead, they have to compare or contrast, identify patterns, explain cause and effect, etc. depending on the topic. This is key for inquiry projects because as Eagleton and Dobler (2007) discussed “not only is it critical to allow students to choose their own topics, but most students will devote additional effort if they are also given some latitude to demonstrate what they’ve learned in a format of their own choosing. “ Additionally, Eagleton and Dobler (2007) continued to say that students may need guidance in developing the project and examples would help students to understand what the project should include. I think one key element in my project is having students to analyze the sources that they find to see if they are relevant and accurate. I will do this by utilizing the strategies provided by Alan November (2008) with the Get REAL strategy for analyzing the information on websites students are locating.

As I look to the future, I plan to incorporate at least one inquiry project each semester into my classroom syllabus. By teaching the strategies that will increase web literacy and having students understand how to develop essential questions, locate resources, analyze the sources for accuracy, then synthesize and evaluate the information into a inquiry projects, my students will be learning skills that are important not only for my class but for their future learning as well. It is critical that students learn these skills in the classroom as they are going to need them in the future for success. The world is changing so rapidly and we have to prepare students for a linked world where they will communicate with students all over the world, and the web is changing so rapidly and there is really no limit on what we can find and access on the web. Even considering how many more resources there are today than there was in the past, the change in the future will be even more rapid than in the past. Berners-Lee discussed at the TED convention in 2009, how we should be looking at the web where there would be all linked data, more than documents but the data that can manipulated. I found that really amazing to think about having that level of information available on the web and how critical it will be to have students be ready to manipulate the information that they find on the web.

Berners-Lee, T. (2009, February). Tim Berners-Lee on the next web. Retrieved April 25, 2010 from TED2009http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/tim_berners_lee_on_the_next_web.html

Eagleton, M. and Dobler, E. (2007). Reading the Web: Strategies for Internet Inquiry. New York, NY. Guilford Press.

November, A. (2008). Web Literacy for Educators. Thousand Oaks, CA. Corwin Press

Screencasting and Website evaluation - take 2

I found it difficult to hear the voice recording that I made with Jing. So I rerecorded the program again holding the microphone nearer to try and get a better sound capture. I hope that it is clearer, to me it still sounds very low and quiet even though I have turned all the volume controls up but I have previously had problem with playback sound on my computer.

I am attaching the second screencast link below:
http://www.screencast.com/t/MTk1NjAzYW

Thanks for watching!

Screencasting & Evaluating Websites

As I continue to explore the web and all of the possiblities, I looked forward to creating my screencast this week exploring a website and evaluating it for validity.

I examined a site Britain for Americans that was clearly not a valid site as the flags were mislabled and the information clearly showed bias. I was not able to locate an author or any reliable source to validate the information. The website has been rarely searched for over the past 10 years, among other factors. Yet, the site illustrates the need to educate students about the critical elements of evaluating websites, while not as blatenly incorrect as some cited in the text, students who stumbled across the website could quickly receive a wrong impression and false information.

http://www.screencast.com/t/MDE4YmU5Ym

Looking Back and Moving Forward

As I reflect on the past 8 weeks and the learning theories studied in the course, I feel that as educators in creating a differentiated classroom we should be careful to include activities that meet a range of theories. As I began the course, I had strong leanings towards the constructionist viewpoints and I held strong desires to have my students make connections to what they are learning. I still feel that is an important aspect of my curriculum and that is an important part of my instruction in my Social Studies classroom. Yet, I feel that I am leaning more towards the social constructionist theories when I integrate the technology in the classroom. So many of the technology tools that we have studied lend themselves to collaboration and students working together, that I am excited to see new ways of teaching the content in my classroom. Perhaps, the best classroom environment is a mixture of the theories so that the best aspects of each theory can help students learn to their maximum potential.

I think the most immediate shift that I plan to incorporate in my classroom is to turn my technology focus from using technology as an instructional tool and to begin using it as a learning tool. I have used a lot of PowerPoint presentations in my classroom and I realize now that the notes delivered by PowerPoint are not any more interactive than the old transparency on the overhead. I do already incorporate video clips and images but I plan to revise my presentations to be more interactive and less scripted so students are more focused on the information than on copying down what is on the slide. Also, I am looking to incorporate more web quests, where students are doing more web based inquiry activities collaboratively in order to acquire the information. The other means of technology that I think will most benefit my students is the use of the Voice Thread technology. I used it in my lesson plan and I am looking forward to how I can use it most effectively in my next unit of study. We are planning to start a class blog (I was waiting on permission) and I think the Voice Thread technology will be an excellent addition to the process. This will truly allow students to work together and collaborate. Additionally, the multiple options for the technology will allow students to record, type or even draw on the image to aid in understanding.

I would like to make a few changes to my instructional strategy and I know that change will not always be easy but is very necessary in order to prepare my students for their future lives. First, I would like to change to have my students be more independent learners, that they are able to problem solve, find the answers (even if they are not right before them in the book), and to come up with new solutions to issues that we discuss. I would like for students to be able to integrate and know what technology tool will help them find the information that they need most effectively and how to evaluate the quality of the information that they have located. In order to accomplish this goal, I will actually have to give up some control in my classroom. I have always been so concerned about the quality of information, that I am never comfortable with students doing inquiry (because I worry about if they find the wrong answer or incorrect information) and I am always pushed by our instructional calendar that requires us to reach certain topics by certain dates. I cannot control the calendar but I am going to modify how the students are responsible for information. This may not happen overnight but I plan to work consistently and pervasively at this so that my students become more self sufficient.

My second long term goal would be to create a 21st century learning environment, I do not have access to a smart board or Mimeo board in my classroom. I can access laptops/computer labs sometimes when needed but they are a shared resource. I would like to acquire a Mimeo board and/or an Interwrite tablet for my classroom. I would also like to be able to access a set of classroom response clickers (like those from Einstruction) that would allow me to do more assessments of student knowledge during class time. I think that students would be more engaged with these forms of technology and would be more involved in the learning process. I think that these interactive technology tools would help my students become the more independent learners that I desire to develop. I plan to try and see what funding sources I might be able to gain access to, in order to fund these purchases, such as grants from various organizations, PTA, or school funds. My hope would be to have increased the level of technology tools in my classroom by the beginning of the next school year.

Intergrating Technology Lesson plan

Here's my Voice Thread for my lesson plan activity. Students would work collabratively in groups to benefit from the social constructionist theory as they build comments to the pictures in the Voice Thread. Let me know what you think.

Social Learning or Really Learning

Middle School students are inherently social in their activities. I think there are very few times when middle school students would not try and complete an activity in class in a social manner. I know that most of my students work better and more efficiently if they are allowed to communicate while doing so. That being said, it is very important that the activity be structured so that students are able to utilize the learning time to learn effectively the material that is being discussed. I can plan a great webquest or a wonderful collabrative activity but if students are not grouped appropriately, if expectations are not clearly set for the students, if the activity is not monitored appropriately then students will not benefit from the learning experience. Dr. Michael Orey discussed that, "New technology forces the 21st century learner to process and apply information in a very different way and at a very different pace from any other time in history. As a result, the span of time between learning something new, being able to apply it, and finding that it is outdated and no longer useful continues to decrease." (Orey, 2001) So students will need to focus more on being able to apply the knowledge than being able to remember facts and dates, application of knowledge in real life situations will be key to student success in future employment. Therefore, we need to prepare students with "real life" application problems in our classrooms today to help them prepare (Pitner, et.al, 2007).

I feel that it is important for students to learn socially, I think that we are increasingly living in a society that is socially connnected. Students are connecting with other students on social networking sites for personal reasons, I see no reason why they would not be enthusiastic about having an opportunity to connect with others for academic reasons as well. In Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works, students are encouraged to work with other students to develop the skills in collabrative groups which will benefit them in the future with jobs (Pitner, et.al., 2007). I would like to explore more of the simulation games and activities with my students and to figure out an effective way to incorporate those in my classroom. I know my students play those types of games for social purposes, I would like to see them becoming that engaged in a game for an educational purpose. I think that more and more jobs in the future will require employees to interact with people that they may never meet physically, I think we need to give students the skills to learn how to do these things now, so that they are prepared in the future.

Orey, M.(Ed.). (2001). Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/index.php?title=Main_Page

Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.