Wicked Problem Project Final

This project will be shared with my colleagues in the district.  Several of the computer teachers in our district do not utilize the school websites for learning, and all are facing the same challenges as I am in the computer lab.  I look forward to sharing my discoveries with them.


Slide 1 - Problem of Practice:

• The problem of practice that I wanted to try to solve with technology involved three challenges I was facing in my elementary computer lab.   I was struggling with instructing large class sizes of 26 students and at the elementary level it can be challenging to help all the students even with parent, classroom aids or other teacher support.  (20 sec)
• The second issue was that all those students had different skill levels and learned technology at different paces within a single class. I want to be able to reach each student at their skill level without slowing other students back in the learning process or leaving slower students behind.  (17 sec)
• Lastly was my challenge of supporting the teachers in our school with so that they can be successful with the technology in their classroom and encouraging students to use it at home as well. (11 sec)

Slide 2 - Solution:

• My solution was to utilize our school website as a centralized location for resources and learning aids.  I have been teaching the students how to navigate the website and like that our school has control over the content and we know the students are safe when they are exploring the site.   I cleaned up our student link section and added a page for all grades called video lessons. (22 sec)
•  On this page, I created a section for screen casts and video lessons that I make to correspond to our computer lab work. (8 sec)
•  The second section on this page was for professional software tutorials done by our vendors (Apple for example).  I also added Khan Academy because of all the great video tutorials they provide.  (11 sec)
• For the students who finish work early and move at a faster pace, I included self paced, independent learning labs on grade level specific pages.  I took some advice from another student in my EdTech course to not reinvent everything.  There are so many resources on the web and after doing a little exploring I found some great resources to help me get started with my ideas. (22 sec)
• On the grade level specific pages I also linked goal specific enrichment activities that were in line with NET standards.  So for the students that finish early they have specific tasks that support our ongoing learning goals. (13 sec)

Slide 3 -  TPACK:

• For this project I chose differentiated instruction & blended learning based on the needs of the students.  The student all are learning the tech skill, but at different speeds and with different learning needs.  The blended learning environment gives the students options so they can choose what works best for them. (16 Sec)
• By modeling different technology tools and different ways to present the information to students, I feel they are learning how to use different technologies and all the ways technology can help us communicate, collaborate, innovate, research, and problem solve.  Using screen casting tools and our website I am changing the way typical classroom information is presented.  Modeling the different uses of technology, students are exposed to more technology skills that help them in their learning environments. (30 sec)
• The pedagogical choice in this project are in line with how students will have to continue to learn technology skills after they graduate from elementary school.  A resent study done by the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario confirms that people learn about technology a variety of ways throughout their life.  A very small amount of this is through direct instruction in the classroom.Student should be learning about technology skills at home, at school, from their peers, from their parents, from multiple teachers and independently. By presenting my lessons with differentiated instructions and in a blended classroom environment, I am modeling the life long skills the students will need to be successful with technology.  (42 sec)

Slide 4 - Implementation:

• The first step for this project was building the website, which also included reorganizing information and cleaning up site layout and any out of date information.  It's always an ongoing challenge for me to keep our school site current and the changes I made for this project were in line with my goals for the site. (18 sec)
• Next I needed to introduce the changes to the students and even the concept of video tutorials.  At the elementary level, the use of video tutorials and how they should be used is very new to the students. (12 sec) 
• Being so new, we needed to practice the skills as a class.  We watched a video tutorial together then created projects based on what we learned.  The students understood that if they needed help they had this extra resource available for them on our school website.  For the students who finished early, they were on task with the enrichment work I had prepared for them.  The learning didn't stop after our project was done.  This allowed everyone to complete the project, even students who were absent and missed days. (30 sec)
• The videos also allowed me to support the learning outside of my computer lab.  Collaborating with teachers, I was able to put videos up on the video lesson page that helped them in their classroom as well.  Students in the upper grades were even going to try using the videos at home for other class assignments.  (17 sec)

Slide 5 - Results & Findings:
While implementing the project I made some discoveries that I hadn't planned for. 

• First, I didn't think that the concept of video tutorials would be a new skill for my students and some teachers.  I had to take a step back in my project so that I could teach the skill.  We talked about video controls, length of videos, how to find specific information in the videos and when to use tutorials. (17 sec)
• I teach every grade level and all classes within that grade level.  I find that sometimes teaching the same lesson over and over can be hard on me and monotonous.  When I used the videos though, I found it was much easier to create one video lesson than give five or more live lessons.  It also ensured that all classes got the same information because there was not an opportunity for me to get off track. (26 sec)
• Another finding that I didn't plan for was how much the videos would be used outside the computer lab.  Initially in my project I was only thinking of students who needed help when I was already working with other students.  It was also great to see teachers were using the resources in their classrooms the same way I was in the computer lab. (18 sec)
• After getting feed back from my instructor in this course and peers, I was able to find great resources online for enrichment activities.  I was initially thinking I would need to create something, but there are so many great resources already online.  (15 sec)
• In the end, using these videos definitely helped with the lessons run smoother. (6 secs)
• I was also pleased to get positive feedback from the teachers and see that they were very enthusiastic about the new tools to support learning. (8 sec)

Slide 6 - Continuation of Wicked Project:
My project is not over.  I need to continue to work on it to maximize results and to keep challenging the students.

• I first need to have the students practice the skills I'm trying to teach them.  The more practice the more comfortable they become with the skills. I feel like it needs to be incorporated into our routine so that students can rely on a process that works. (8 sec)
• During this project I did not get a chance to explore a flipped lesson, however, I'm interested to explore this more. (7 sec)
• I also want to keep researching for new resources.  I found so many great ideas, but know there is so much more out there. (7 sec)
• Personally I would like to work on my tech skills so that I can produce high quality video lessons that can be used over and over.  (8 sec)
• By collaborating with teachers and staff members, I hope to find more ways to support them with their technology needs and classroom challenges.  (9 sec)

Slide 7 - Tech Skills I learned:
During the course of this project I learned a few new tech skills that I am very excited about.

• I discovered another screen casting tool that is very simple to use called Screenr.  It will be another great option for me or my students to use. (8 sec)
• I also got more familiar with the screen casting options available in Quicktime pro.  This was a great tool, because it integrates so nicely into all my other Apple applications. (11 sec)
• When doing research for this project I found some great resources and was able to use them without reinventing everything on my own.  (7 secs)
• The skill I'm most excited to have picked up was being able to create my own embedding codes for my videos.  Rather than sending students out to Youtube or another video hosting site, I am able to create videos in Quicktime and link them securely to our school website. (16 sec)

Professional Learning Plan

I created my presentation in Keynote (Apple's presentation software), recorded my voice over the slides, then exported it to Quicktime.  Enjoy :)  Bummer I had put iMovie video slideshows on each slide, but it doesn't look like the video inside the video works :(  I'll have to play around with it some more.  


Slide 1
I began the MSU Ed Tech Certification program a year and a half ago. 


Slide 2
I specifically remember my first assignment to create a Goal Statement.  When I drafted this I was only a technology parent.  I focused on how I would learn to use technology to make a difference in education and how I would increase my technology skills.  

Slide 3
Soon after my first MSU class I got a job as a computer lab teacher at an elementary school.    Since writing these goals I have learned so many great technology skills that allowed me to surpassed my initial objectives, but I have found that the more I learn the more I still need to explore. I feel like my role as the school tech expert means my job is to explore new technologies, evaluate them and present or train staff and students on these tools.  Teachers don’t have the time to do this and some are not tech savy enough to know how.  I enjoy this role and look forward to continually find ways to help my team.

The second part of my initial goal statement had to do with using technology to make a difference.  As I evaluate technology and present it to my students and our school staff, I feel like this is so important that I always focus on the learning first and technology second.  Technology is wonderful, but there are disadvantages to technology.  Finding the balance is important to me and is a mental exercise I alway find myself performing as I prepare my lessons, when I learn new tech skills and when I share my knowledge with others.  I think this goal is sustaining and will require my continual reflection as technologies change and my knowledge expands. 

Slide 4
As I finish the Ed Tech Certificate program I have two short term goals that I would like to focus on next.  The first is developing a strong curriculum for our school that addresses student learning goals and objectives, grade level content, meets or exceeds NET standards, identifies opportunities for collaboration, specifies processes and allows for multiple modes of presentation.  Secondly, I hope to pursue more MSU courses and eventually complete the masters program, but I need to pace myself with work and family life.  So many of the classes sound excellent and I know that I would learn a lot.  My hope is that I can figure out a way to balance all three.  

embedding videos

I've been struggling with how I can post videos to websites and blogs with out having to link them to youtube or some other outside website that can redirect my students to places I don't want them to go.  I discovered that I can post my video to my MSU netfiles account and then use a free website to create an embedding code.

Here is a Keynote project I worked on with a second grade class.  The students first created avatars, then did Wordles (focusing on adjectives), then they created a two part sentence answering what and why.   The tech skills were not the focus, but I love the fun they had with the transitions and builds :)

Group Leadership Project

What tool did your group use to deliver the PD tutorial?  Why?

Our group chose to go with iMovie for the final delivery.  A couple members of the group wanted to learn more about using iMovie and we all had access to it.  iMovie is a great tool for compiling videos and images.  The voice over feature is really easy to use and the themes, transitions and title features can really make a presentation look professional.  The only trouble we had at the end was that we all had different versions of iMovie and were not aware of this when we started.  Another downside to using iMovie is that it is not a collaboration tool in the sense that multiple people can work on the same project easily.  So Margaret needed to compile our videos or slides together since she had the role of doing the voice over for the video.  

What did you learn during the development process of the final product?

In a group project it is essential to coordinate project details and keep communication open through out the process.  We struggled to find a tool that allowed us to communicate effectively and worked well for all members of the group.  Google Docs was a great tool for us to do the initial coordination of the project and for us to all access and store our work.  However, we had a little trouble finding times to meet up as a group and when we did get together we struggled with our conferencing tools.  One thing that is great about working with students in my classes is that I know that they all have the same software and hardware capabilities.  We plan to collaborate with students in Alaska, but we plan to use Skype and Google Docs.  We have tested these and know they work, so we are off to a good start already.  
  

What would you do differently if you had to develop a similar product again?
If I could do this again, I would probably focus more on making sure our group used tools that helped us communicate effectively and that when we did connect we had a plan for each meeting.  We each were pretty busy with our different schedules and being in different time zones.  Our conferencing did not need to be long, but because we had so much trouble with the technology, I felt we wasted valuable time.  I was happy to work with such talented teachers though, even with our set-backs we were able to create an interesting and informative PD tutorial.