Teaching the teachers

Final Project

Teaching teachers to implement 21st century tech. in Classrooms.

Michael Crews

Rational:  I chose this topic because it is a very important step between the theory that everyone would agree with that "we should have relevant technology in classrooms"  and the practical "here is a lesson based on modern technology" which many teacher today dont know how to use themselves therefore can not hope to teach students in this stream of thought.  Learning throughout life is a necessity for teachers because modern society changes/reinvents itself every decade almost so if we dont keep up we, and by proxy the students we teach, are left using items that are considered items from an archaeological dig. lets not be those teacher.

Preparation for the project:

 - Do some research:  This is the phase when you take a good look at what is out there, not just what is used in most schools, but what is  coming out right now and what has proven itself to be useful in classrooms.  Look at cutting edge teachers blog that discuss what they are using and how well its working in their classes.  This can focus your searching from the thousands of to dozens of good ones available.  use the blogs to interact with those teachers to bounce ideas about how it could be used in your classroom. 

COST: that evil little detail that is the big difference between what we want and what we have.  Working in a small school means that even if you find a marvelous software package or hardware system, if it costs tens or hundreds of thousands to realize then we should move on, find things that are possible so you dont spend time on something that will most likely never occur in your school.

RESOURCES:  looking at available hardware, if your school is running certain software/hardware then you can't run some tech.  knowing what you can and can't run will reduce hours of frustration if you do all the work then find out it cant happen without a whole system overhaul.  Also simple amount of resources, if you have older/cheaper technology then running something blazing fast just on the market software will probably cause lag and frustration with the program for everyone involved.

Ok now you have a list of what is available from your research.  look at this from the eyes of your teachers.  If you have mostly elementary teachers then focus on software they can easily integrate into their classroom.  If you have more high school then look for more higher level thinking type technology.

see what you will need to run these chosen programs.  If you need smart boards then see that your classroom have them, if you need other interactive technology (iPads, laptops, signaling devices for answers ect...)  make sure you have them available.  Subscription to content video serves would fall into this category too, its not just physical items that you need to collect to be ready to start this process. Youtube is good but there are specialized educational video libraries that require accounts.

LOCAL RESOURCES: contact other schools in the area, see what they are using.  Meet with those teachers that have success in using tech in the class.  The more you know about this before you begin the better it will probably go.  IT support, your local IT person would be good to have onside since it will inevitably end up being you and them getting this system working when you start.

TIME SCALE:  draw up a plan that takes into considerations the wide ranging levels of knowledge that will walk into this meeting.  From the 23 year old that has most technology in their plans already to the teacher in their final stretch to retirement who needs help setting up the DVD player. Give participants enough time to complete the  projects but not so much that they forget between meetings what they learned in the last one.
Prepare to distribute this as a google doc as part of the first lesson.

IMPLEMENTATION:
First meeting should be in the week before school starts, this is when things are getting setup for teachers so if there was a good time to add something this would be it.  Nobody wants to overhaul a plan mid way through.  During this first meeting plan to give out the afore mentioned timetable through google docs so this is a time to teach how to use that.  The google drive function of Gmail is useful for forms and permission slips that multiple people use and wanting a standardized school form.
Then do a survey asking people to rate their knowledge/.experience with the list of options that you found out over your research.  this will allow you to spend more time on things that are less familiar and breeze through powerpoint or exel if everyone knows them.
TEACHER HOMEWORK:  everyone will love this.... between now and the next meeting have them try out the programs at home (demo or if you have installed on the network already) then do research on what other functions this can be used for.  finally look for webinars or course that teach use of some programs.
FROM THEN ON:  each meeting should start with show and tell, having teacher sshow what they have done with previous technologies in their classes, this will inspire others and give idea.  We need to be sharers of good ideas, its not like if you keep it all to yourself that makes you better than others.  Once this time is over we move on to another innovation to use in classes.  Some options could be Blogs for classes, or facebook group for a class so if you send a message on facebook all in that group will get it (this is more high school level where most have facebook accounts.) Edmodo is another good group connection program.
Airserv is a program that i use to project the contents of my iPad to the class projector, if i have a great app or just want to have interaction from a student i can just hand them the iPad. Also it allows me to be wandering the class while writing on the board so i can be in a superposition of here and there at once.
moodle based videos that can be accessed at anytime to flip the classroom..
narration over a powerpoint so that they can watch it with your explaining as it goes.
ect..

This would be the input stage getting the info into the teachers but it shouldn't end there.  During the year there should be checkups and more work with programs/ technology.   These checkups would be checking into classes once a month to see what is happening with these new ideas, are they being implemented and another set of eyes seeing where other things could be done in your class.
Another part of the support for running this would be having a technology wizard come in  and take a class of yours with your plans and techno it so you could see how it could be done, also see the students reactions to it from the seats (we cant easily assess it if we are teaching at the same time so let this be your time to look for yourself).  Finally we would offer a weekly "tutoring" session for teachers that are having problems, they can come in and get help using this new technology.  Even using PD days if available for course or hands on practice to become confident with it.  As the teacher we need to have confidence using the tech. if we are doddering and "ummm what do i do next?" there is a loss of confidence in the teacher so lets not be that teacher.

ASSESSMENT:    
Assessment would come from above and below, what i mean is that the checkups to see if its being used would tell if there has been change in performance in class with most classes using technology then we see that its effectively being used for the positive.  If there is a negative performance with a good record on the checkups then we could check to see if the use of the new technology is interfering with the knowledge transfer and maybe more  practice with the technology would help make it  fluid and not deter the students
STUDENT SURVEYS: to get the students perspective on the use of technology, was it effective to aiding their learning, was it better then traditional class.
A little competition to help bring out peoples best:  have monthly competitions to see who can create the best technology drive lesson.  Have rewards of gift card or software for their own home use.  From this we will see who is leaders of the pack in technology integration and make them mentors for other struggling technophobes.
TEACHER BLOG:  Setup a blog that has a collection of ideas, videos, resources, etc.  for all the staff to access so that we can all stand on the shoulders of giants to achieve greatness in our classes.  Again i say that hoarding your secrets from others is not helpful to your students or your friendships with other teachers.
FINAL SCORES:  It will inevitably end up at this point, to see if there is a trend to better learning and performance on standardized test will always be looked to as assessment.  Now i will insert a comment that scores of standardized tests are not the end all and be all of teaching success in my opinion but that is how most people judge it.

MANAGEMENT:
Management of this project will be as technological as the plan itself so lets see.
Google doc will  be used for any communications about meetings or anything.
Blog of sharing ideas will be used to manage and monitor what is coming out of the classrooms.
Podcasts of meetings will be made so that just like any student that is having trouble with a subject can go back and watch it multiple times until it is clear, the teacher can review it until they remember the process to create whatever project they are working on.
Social media bookmarking of resources will be used so that anytime you can get onto your facebook/twitter account you can have access to the information you will need, wherever you are.
Finally PRINT IT.  If you are having trouble with the technology side of this then you will probably not be comfortable reading from a screen for prolonged time periods so with a simple CTRL - P or PRT SCR you can pront most information so that you can hold it in paper form.

confessions of A GAME ADDICT.

Real Vs Virtual experiences....
They both have huge effects on people, it is without a doubt that if you experience reality, both good and bad, it will make you into the person you are today.  Nobody would question that.  If you are chased by dogs as a small child then you mat grow up with a fear of dogs....if you grew up with supportive, encouraging parents then there is a good chance you are a confident person today.  These real experiences are what mold and shape you, no one would advise getting out of reality because it can have bad effects on your development (maybe there is a therapy in that idea but thats for another time).

Virtual experiences.  first i want to see why they are soooo appealing to people.  If you are a school age child that perhaps is skinny, not particular strong and awkward, intelligent and not socially elegant where do you think this list of characteristics would have a child end up???? (this is where the title of the blog comes in) I can tell you from person experience it ends with a kid that is picked on in recess, not picked very high in gym class, reduced to few friends that are in same situation.  Now enter the virtual existence of computer games.... so i can spend my time being the big, strong, defender of the weak and hero to many, or spend life in the afore mentioned reality.  and THAT is why games are appealing to people.

So thats the reason why game addicts are common, because  to be completely honest some times reality sucks.  Now I put the cavat in here if your reality is bad and you do nothing about it then it will never change (thats where i went wrong i avoided instead of changed)   if you want it to change you gotta pop your head out of azeroth, everquest etc... to play a new kind of quest like "get a new friend" or "have a face to face conversation" these will improve your experience in reality so you can level up those skills.

virtual experiences:  if you are invested in the virtual life, either time spent, money spent, emotional connection, the virtual experience will have an impact.   How many times will we have to hear stories of people commiting suicide or some extreme action because of what hqppens in a virtual world.  This should be enough evidence to show how important it can become.  The major issue i feel is that having these virtual experience are not inheriantly wrong, its all about the level of priority we give them.  Example:  when people start losing job or wives/husbands because they give priority to the virtual experience, then this is an issue, they are mining from reality to feed the virtual.  There will always be reasons, if i hated my job and my spouse was miserable to live with, that would feed the urge to spend more time in virtual then real, but as i said before if you avoid life in virtual it will never get better in reality.

So i guess my opinion is that virtual experience is powerful use it wisely and it can help education, emotional skill formation.  these are good, but let it grow to surpass inportant realities and it goes to the dark side and creates the shadow of people that they use to be.

minecraft

Purpose:  Understand the history and culture of mayan civilization.

Minecraftedu has a variety of lands that have been build by users and shared so that you can load it and allow the students to explore what a real mayan village or ziggurat would look like.  as they explore they could see what were important to the people (religion which is why they build the ziggurats) and games they play and weapons used in combat.
It is easy to verbally explain all this but letting them move through it and have to interact with the shaman or weapon smith would help them remember much better.

After 30 minute or so have them write a summary of what they have learned about the mayans.
http://minecraftedu.com/page/

gaming students smart...

How many of us have hear "those computer games will rot your mind" WEEEEELLLLLLLLL what if its quite the opposite.  There is research that show there are distinct advantages to the gaming entertainment industry.  Now in no way am i saying that if you play Call of Duty all day you will become a genius, but there are other areas of education then just facts and figures.  First hand-eye coordination for the gaming community is shown to be improved due to the nature of the games, see-recognize-react.  Now unless your planing a career as a pickpocket or knifecatcher this skill might not be the end all and be all.  ok so what else, how about the social aspect?  when they play most of these games they are working with other humans to achieve goal in the form of missions or quests.  This skill is more useful in working life, if instead of your dungeon master or army general you replace a boss assigning a project for a team, THEN this skill of working together,. using everyone specific skills to complete the task looks more desirable.  Even to the extreme there is a computer program out of university of mcgill that uses the natural talent of gamers to figure out chemical structures of large protiens (its set up as a game to work out how the chemicals can be arranged to give the physical structure we see in a lab and since they started this they have solve thousands of structures in a few years compared to using serial working computer which took decades to achieve this level of success.

There is huge potential in the gamers future due to the skills they learn... I have used a program names phylogeny which is using gamers to use DNA sequences to arrange the DNA of different animals.  Its like a puzzles and i have seen students so into it trying to finish a level that they stay after the bell rang just to do it.
Another program was dealing with natural selection and how having different traits can help or hinder an animal in an environment.
Finally i had a demo of a game that had you playing a character that went through the human body acting as communication from hormones or other bodily functions.
These games were much more exciting to the students then me explain it for 40 minutes.

Some people may say that games have no place in a christian classroom but i say that as long as its in keeping with the morals of the school then there should be no problems.  There is no 11th commandment that says thou shalt make education as dry and boring as possible.
Am i saying its all roses, no.  There are huge engagement bonuses, excitement about the topics, willing to spend hours using the knowledge they learned which will translate into not forgetting it a week later.  There must be some boundaries put in place, the biggest i see is that yes gaming is a sedimentary activity so even if it is for learning, if children sit at a computer screen for hours a day and not exercise the obesity problem will grow.  Another issue i see is that if a child is socialized to interact with people through a keyboard or microphone then do they develope the skills required to have actual human face to face social skills... or are we creating a world where 40 year olds will live in their parents basements because they cant meet real people and have normal friendships in reality?

IS it perfect, no, but lets not squash it because there are some games that are mindless, see the potential, refine the application and reap the benifits that can come from this emerging asset.

Is flippin a class like flipping a coin.

Picture it....the class is prepared, the desks in place the beakers bubbling...all you need to do is do 10 minutes of theory to prepare them for the lab then you are off to a wonderful learning experience....what could go wrong.... then 5 minutes in you hear it "but i don't understand could you go over it again" from there it goes down hill and you get to the point where you could either rush the lab to get it done or reschedule it for tomorrow and you are looking at 20+ faces with nothing planned...neither are good options.
how could the flipping class model help this... well if we had done the video and they had watched it before they could have watched multiple times to understand before coming to class so we could get right into the lab.
The possibility of this model has great.  The only problem that i could see is that it is reliant on the students preparing before class and if they didn't then they would waste the class because you wouldn't be teaching it in class.  Another possible issue is that you need to have everything prepared well in advance to keep all students with videos / content to work on so the fast can not be held back and the slow has enough time to understand.

I think this model of class has great potential to be effective in my class room of high school science so that i can divert time from lecturing about the topic to hands on use of the theory.

collaboration not copying

Ok how many times as a teacher do we have the best intentions when we plan a project for a class.  we think that this will be the ultimate learning experience and it will appeal to all learner types and then we can display it on our bulletin boards for parent teacher night and everyone will be AMAZED....enter the reality element... on the day this masterpiece is scheduled what we actually see is 3 of 4 students trying to text on their phone under the guise of "doing research" or watching soccer highlights.... and the one on task student ends up doing most of the work.  Then the grading nightmare arises from this well intention project.  how can we assign different grades to children in the same group??? if you ask them they will claim to have been working together.

This is the typical plotline of most project i have done, which saddens me because there is so much potential for learning content and social skills that will allow success in life after the classroom.

With online tools there are ways to curb this horror story plot turning into the waste of time it can become.  wikis are one option, this way it will show what each person contributed and allows assessment to have physical (or electronic if we are being technical) evidence of how much effort was brought to a project.   If the project is a 3 pg summary and student A only adds a paragraph then i can show the parents/student why they recieved a much lower grade then the other participants.
Another tool that i literally found a day or 2 ago is called ask3 (its an app for ipad) it allows video creations and comments like a blog.