PLO 6 & 7

Week Four Assignment: PLO 6 & 7 Redesign

Dyane Plumly

EDU697

Dr. Philip Orlando, Ed. Spec

July 21, 2014

Introduction

The assignment that I have elected to redesign to match Program Learning Outcome 6 to “technology resources to facilitate effective assessment and evaluation” and Program Learning Outcome 7 “Utilize technology to collect and analyze data, interpret results, and communicate findings” is the EDU652 final assignment. In this course, Instructional Design and Delivery, we heavily focused on instructional design, but the unit that I designed focused very little on the assessment or the data collection, particularly with a technology focus. I elected to use this assignment in my redesign because it is a unit I actually taught and would like to rework for future teaching. Most importantly, this unit focused on creating argumentative essays (which is a major standard that is being pushed in my district), and hence, an area that I’d like to ensure I am assessing effectively to ensure student success. In this narrative, I have also included a discussion regarding the instructional design principle and theory that aligns with the use of technology for assessment and evaluation, as well as data collection, and a reflection on the challenges of this redesign work.

Principles & Theory

Instructional design principles and theory heavily influence how to use effective assessment and evaluation tools, particularly with the use of assessment. Throughout the past nine courses in our MATLT program, we have learned that there are many forms of assessment and evaluation that are used in the classroom.

According to McDavid, Huse & Hawthorne (2013), evaluation is “a structured process that creates and synthesizes information intended to reduce the level of uncertainty for decision makers and stakeholders about a given program or policy.” Assessment is a tool used to give feedback, set standards, evaluate progress, and motivate performance (Edutopia Staff, 2008). The difference between these two can be viewed in that evaluation is more specifically regarding a summative evaluation and assessments are used to monitor progress. As a classroom teacher, the key for me is understanding where my students are and what I need to do in order to get them to the objective I have outlined. In my redesign, using technology to gain formative assessments was the critical area of focus for me.

Similar to my own practice, Newby, Stepich, Lehman, Russell & Ottenbreit-Leftwich (2011) defined assessment as “the process of gathering evidence of what learners know and can do.” Thus, assessment is an ongoing process. According Newby, Stepich, Lehman, Russell & Ottenbreit-Leftwich (2011), there are three critical components that must be considered in the evaluation process:

1. Continuous improvement requires continuous information,

2. Encourage and teach students how to evaluate for themselves, and

3. Information will carry more weight when it has been “triangulated” or based on many sources. Newby, Stepich, Lehman, Russell & Ottenbreit-Leftwich (2011) describes triangulation as the process of obtaining information from multiple techniques or sources. Triangulation offers reliability when considering what students have learned, as it may offer opportunities for students to demonstrate their learning through more than one path or assignment.

Even more so, assessment is both summative and formative. In my teaching experience, I have understood formative assessment to aligned with what Bedard-Voorhees, Johnson, and Dobson (2011) refer to as “those that are done during a course activity that help students improve skills and knowledge needed to meet objectives." Summative assessments are more final and determine a student’s learning or mastery at the conclusion of a unit, semester, year, etc. Bedard-Voorhees, Johnson, and Dobson (2011) also specifically discuss how technology has shaped how educators may have seen traditional assessments. Dabbagh (2006) claims that the instructional “focus is on the process not the product.” In this Constructivism approach, the example in Figure 6 of Bedard-Voorhees, Johnson, and Dobson (2011), in which the Bloom’s taxonomy shows varying levels of assessment through technology, it is truly highlighted how technology changes the way in which assessment must be viewed.

For me, as an educator, this is exemplified in the way in which I assess students - that learning is no longer about what they necessarily have memorized, but whether or not they know how to access the information that they seek and determine its credibility. I think this view of assessment is also aligned with the new Common Core standards, which are much more interested in determining student’s ability to argue and access knowledge. In the past, my students have always taken standardized tests that I had to prepare them for. This created a rather distinct gap between the activities, discussions, and projects that I enjoyed having in my class and the quick drill camps that I would set up in weeks prior to the CAHSEE (my school has us do CAHSEE camps in order to help students pass their high school exit exam). However, as we have started to do field tests of the Smarter Balanced assessments, I have realized that these new tests have students work on fewer problems but with much more depth and analysis to each one. Although I am struggling with the implementation and the rigor of Common Core with my students (at the high school level, I have many resistant and asking for multiple choice), I like this type of evaluation. In the original assignment, the objective is for students to be able to annotate, summarize, and respond to a text in order to identify and understand an author’s argument. This is a small component of the overall learning that students will do throughout the year, but serves as part of the process to deeper, more thorough learning.  

Redesign

In my original assignment, I noted that the gap that my students would experience with their current state of knowledge and the skills that we are building toward was understanding argument and how evidence is used to support that argument. I had recently completed a similar activity to this that had students write argumentative essays, but students struggled to effectively understand the author’s argument and use evidence to support their own opinions. In the instructional activity, there is a large emphasis on annotating and summarizing. In previous work, my students felt that summarizing was a skill that they had mastered, but their summaries simply reflected many opinions and irrelevant information about the article. In this part of the activity, which supports the objective of understand an author’s argument, I want to students to “be able to suspend [their] own beliefs for a time and put [themselves] in the shoes of someone else” (Graff and Birkenstein, 2010, p. 31). In this way, they will learn what “they say” before we begin the process of writing rhetorically in what “I say.”

In this redesign, I will use the summaries of the previous unit and grade it according to a specific rubric (shown in original assignment). This will be used as a formative assessment to assess the needs of each student. By assessing the need of each student, “Rather than simply "teaching to the middle" by providing a single avenue for learning for all students in a class, teachers using differentiated instruction match tasks, activities, and assessments with their students' interests, abilities, and learning preferences” (Willoughby, 2000-2005). This pre-assessment process allows the educator to get to know the students, a critical aspect of formative assessments (Willoughby, 2000-2005).

In the original assignment, the only discussion of the assessment of student learning was that students would show an understanding of the author’s argument through their annotations, summary, and response. There was no discussion of technology and its potential effectiveness in assessment. In the redesign, Google Chrome books with reliable Internet access and Google Drive accounts will be used. These classroom materials not only assist the students in completing their work, but also support the teacher in order to effectively create formative assessment opportunities on the progress students are making.

Technology is a critical factor in this redesign because the use of Google Drive will allow me to work with students on both their annotations and summaries. By using a digital copy of the text that we are annotating, I will be able to model for students the work that we are doing on my own Google Drive while students are completing them in their own. Even more so, after a demo is completed, I could even synchronously work with students who might be struggling on their annotations via Google Docs. Similarly, as students as working on their summaries, I can “check in” with students both synchronously and asynchronously to determine their progress and whether or not they are meeting the stated objective.  Google Drive tools allows me to interact with the student directly over their assignment, over email, or even via chat in order to formatively assess where their current state of learning is and what I can do to offer varying levels of support to help them achieve mastery of the standard. In this way, technology is key in offering me, the teacher, moments to monitor student’s progress because it can be done simultaneously as students are completing their work. Rather than allowing a student to turn in incorrect work and have to restart the assignment the following day, I can intercept misconceptions or misunderstandings while students are in their work in order to change their course of action and create clearer learning moments.  

Challenges Experienced/Reflection

The major challenge that I experienced with this redesign mainly stemmed from a struggle to determine which assignment would benefit most from its alignment with Program Learning Outcome 6 to “technology resources to facilitate effective assessment and evaluation” and Program Learning Outcome 7 “Utilize technology to collect and analyze data, interpret results, and communicate findings.” As with the past few weeks, it is imperative to me that the work I complete for all assignments is practical and relevant to the work that I do in the classroom. Unfortunately, many of my assignments prior to EDU618, where assessment was the focus, did not include detailed descriptions of how I planned to assess my student learning – much less through the use of technology. Prior to EDU618, much of more work, as shown by the EDU652 assignment I have redesigned here, focused on instructional material and delivery via technology. Due to this, I had a large body of work to select from. In the end, the reason that I elected to choose the redesign on this Expository Reading and Writing Course (ERWC) is because it is a unit that I will likely repeat in the upcoming school year and it is a standard that I will definitely teach through other units. The alignment to these PLO’s also offered an opportunity for me to consider the assessment and technologies utilized for other work that my students and I are currently doing.

            Due to the fact that this unit was almost entirely completed considering only instructional materials and delivery, I almost had a blank slate to work with for the creation of assessment and technology integration. This was simultaneously a gift and a challenge. It was a gift because I didn’t have to conform new ideas to old work, but also a challenge because I had to incorporate learning from the past year and a half and integrate it into the redesign. Ultimately, this was overcome through an analysis of both the relevancy and practicality of what I could implement in my classroom and as a reflection of the skills/tools I have learned.

Conclusion

Overall, assessment and evaluation absolutely tie in with instructional theory design. In this redesign, assessment was used as both a pre and formative assessment in order to build toward greater learning. By considering the use of technology in assessments, many of these processes are streamlined and made more effective through more timely feedback and student-teacher conversations to individualize their ongoing learning. In this way, Program Learning Outcome 6 to “technology resources to facilitate effective assessment and evaluation” and Program Learning Outcome 7 “Utilize technology to collect and analyze data, interpret results, and communicate findings” benefit both educator and learner. The technology and assessment decisions made allow for student progress to be synchronously and asynchronously monitored to ensure student success and mastery for the stated objectives.

References

Bedard-Voorhees, A., Johnson, L.M., & Dobson, P. (2011). Letting them show what they know: Digital assessment strategies [Book Submission Chapter Final Version]. In S. Hirtz and K. Kelly (Eds.) Education for a Digital World 2.0, Section F: eAssessment: Measuring in Ways that Matter. British Columbia: Province of British Columbia.

Dabbagh, N. (2006). Instructional design knowledge base. Retrieved from http://classweb.gmu.edu/ndabbagh/Resources/IDKB/models_theories.htm

Graff, G., & Birkenstein, C. (2010). The Say, I Say (2nd ed.). New York, NY: W.W. Norton and Company.

Newby, T. J., Stepich, D. A., Lehman, J. D., Russell, J. D., & Ottenbreit-Leftwich, A. (2011). Educational technology for teaching and learning (4th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

McDavid, J.C., Huse, I., & Hawthorn, L.L. (2013). Program evaluation & performance measurement: An introduction to practice (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage

Why is assessment important?. (2008, July). Edutopia. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/assessment-guide-importance

Willoughby, J. (2000-2005). Differentiating instruction: meeting students where they are. Retrieved from http://www.glencoe.com/sec/teachingtoday/subject/di_meeting.phtml  

PLO 3

           

Week Two Assignment: POL 3 Redesign

Dyane Plumly

EDU697

Dr. Philip Orlando, Ed. Spec

July 7, 2014

Introduction (EDU697)

The assignment that I have elected to redesign is the final assignment from EDU649.  In its original form, I applied the PIE (Plan, Implement, and Evaluate) model in order to design a Career Exploration for my students. As I am currently teaching this course over the Summer Intersession in my classroom right now, its redesign seemed particularly relevant as I have found that the simple explanation and provided template of the assignment was not enough. As I am changing the way that I am using the materials I initially created, I elected to redesign this so that it does effectively address the needs of all my learners and provide an opportunity for differentiation. These redesign changes will ensure that I have meet the Program Learning Outcome 3 to “design learning opportunities that apply technology-enhanced instructional strategies to support the needs of all learners.” In addition to the redesign of this original assignment, which is marked by the italicized writing, I have also included a discussion regarding the instructional design principle and theory that support the needs of all learners and a reflection on the challenges of this redesign work.

Supporting The Needs Of All Learners

According to Hall, Strangman, and Meyer (2003), “differentiated instruction applies an approach to teaching and learning that gives students multiple options for taking in information and making sense of ideas.” By doing so, the diverse learning styles of students can be met. According to Gardner, everyone may have some level of skill or understanding in each type of intelligence, but one area dominates (Lever-Duffy & McDonald, 2011). As an educator, this has significant impact. Only two intelligences are traditionally taught to the in classroom - linguistic and logical-mathematical (Mark, 2002-2008). There lies a great risk in these being the sole method for teaching practices. If a student has a strength in an intelligence not addressed, they may not understand the material as well as their classmates who do have those strengths. A teacher who does not understand different learning styles might interpret this student as unintelligent or unmotivated/unengaged. This is how many students get “left behind” (and in classrooms like mine). A student’s ability to grapple with new material may likely have nothing to do with their abilities or engagement, but rather that they are not being shown material in a way that does not allow them to show their potential. In a classroom with such diversity in age and ability, I must use educational technology in order to assist me with supporting the needs of all my learners. Yet as explained by Felder and Brent (2005), my student’s diversity is much more than their grade and age level, as it also encompasses their learning styles, approaches to learning, and intellectual development. Educational technology allows a teacher the opportunity to try and meet these vast needs as efficiently as possible.

Newby, Stepich, Lehman, Russell & Ottenbreit-Leftwich (2011) describe educational technology as the integration of technological tools in order to enhance learning. Educational technology serves as a link between learning and students and teachers with learning challenges.  Due to this, learning and technology are related because technology is used in the classroom to enhance educator practice and student learning. Technology can provide a multitude of experiences (simulations (vicarious), videos, presentations (instructional), etc.) to create an experience to change a student’s level of knowledge.

Educational technology includes a wide range of resources that stimulate student learning. Lever-Duffy, and McDonald (2011) note a variety of the instructional methods a teacher might employ:

A teacher might use educational technology to enhance the quality and clarity of communication. A teacher might employ a particular process or a specific technology to increase the likelihood that a presentation addresses a specific learning style or intelligence. Or a learner might select a process or technology because it organizes and presents content in the manner that is most comfortable for his or her personal cognitive style. Some educational technologies can be employed to ensure the rewards and feedback that are critical to a behaviorist approach. Other technologies help a learner to construct and test the mental models suggested by cognitivists. Still others encourage and support social exchange to construct new knowledge through social interaction. (p. 37)           

These suggestions highlight the value of using technology to support multiple intelligences in student learning. The use of multiple modes of communication can be valuable to students who receive information in different ways. For example, when a teacher is delivering instruction, they might also have the use of visual aids in the form of a PowerPoint, and a student could have a copy of the PowerPoint/notes in front of them (electronically or on paper). This would allow a student to receive the information in multiple ways and is also supported by Hall, Strangman, and Meyer (2003) with their idea of using “several elements and materials [...] to support instructional content” (p.3).  From this teacher delivery, students then could take an active role in the learning, using hands-on manipulatives or Internet based games/tools. Students could potentially even have the choice of how to complete the work - there could be tables where students work collaboratively (again, online or in a physical classroom) or independently to achieve the same goal, but through different means. These different options would allow all students’ access to material in the manner most comfortable with them, but still have all students reaching the same goal.

Yet, whenever working with educational technology, it is important to bear in mind that “Technology, it's a tool. It's what you do with that tool, what you can make, what you allow the students to make”  (Fink, 2012). Technology must be used with careful design. By doing so, the combination of instructional design and technology can be used to enhance learning because the teacher has set up a plan, like a blueprint, to create valuable, effective, and engaging learning moments. This type of planning creates a pathway (or a variety of pathways) for students to meet the necessary objectives and obtain mastery. As a teacher sets out their instructional plan, the educational media can be selected in order to support the learning outcomes. Educational media could organize information in a way that is easier for a student to intake, or it might even have a feedback system built into it for a student to receive immediate feedback.

Introduction (EDU649)

I am currently a teacher with Juvenile Court and Community Schools (JCCS). I have approximately 50 students (shared between two general education and one SPED support teacher) and they range from 7th-12th grade. My co-teacher and I teach all core and elective subjects inside our two classrooms. Although all classrooms undoubtedly call for differentiated learning in order to meet the various needs of all students, my particular teaching position demands this on a daily basis due to the vast needs of my eclectic classroom.

Over the course of the past six weeks in EDU649, I have analyzed the various advantages and limitations to educational technologies and their uses in the classroom. As a current teacher, whenever I am creating new curriculum or material for my classroom use, educational technologies are just one of the many points that must be considered. For the learning module we are creating for this course, I wanted to create content and technology uses that I could immediately implement into my classroom. For this reason, I elected to use the Plan, Implement, and Evaluate (PIE) model to design, develop, and deliver lessons that will have specific actions, techniques, and technologies to meet the needs of my diverse learners. By going through this process, as an educator, I can help to ensure that my students will have the required support systems and scaffolds that they will need to reach mastery, as well the appropriate technologies that can be utilized to enhance and motivate my students.

            As I wanted to create a series of lessons that could be used in my classroom immediately, I elected a course that students often complete independently, and hence, would benefit from both more classroom instruction time and the use of technology. A graduation requirement for all the students in my district is the Senior Project, in which they make a compilation of both career and college focused documents that they place in a binder. Since most the assignments for this project/course do not currently utilize technology, I elected to change the binder where students collect their work to an e-portfolio. This learning module will include several components for students, as it will culminate in their final Senior Project. First, students will create workplace documents: resume, cover letter, a request for a letter of recommendation, and a thank you letter. Then, students will create their academic-focused documents: one-year goals, five-year goals, college application, scholarship essay, and a career/education presentation. The last step will be the culminating activity, as well as the major evaluative component, which is the e-portfolio.

            Newby, Stepich, Lehman, Russell & Ottenbrieth-Leftwich (2011) describe the PIE method as being supported by three components: the teacher perspective, the learner perspective, and the educational technologies used. To create this learning module, I used several of these questions to guide me in the planning process.

Teacher Perspective

From the teacher perspective, the following questions were addressed:

What information should be included in the instructional materials or activities?

Hall, Strangman, and Meyer (2003) suggest using “several elements and materials[...]to support instructional content” (p.3). For this course, students will be creating several workplace and educational focused documents. For many of these students, creating these types of documents will be brand-new and, therefore, unfamiliar. In order to best support students in this learning, students need to understand the purpose of each document so that they understand why they must learn how to do them, examples of each document so that they understand what each looks like, and finally, guidelines or templates so students know how to set up the assignments.

Lever-Duffy, and McDonald (2011) note that a variety of the instructional methods should be used in order to best meet the diverse needs of students.  In order to ensure the various learning styles of students are addressed, these documents, templates, and rubric will be provided to students in multiple ways: auditorally through teacher presentation, visually through the class learning management system, and a combination of auditory and visual through Jing videos that are hosted on the learning management system and explain student assignments.

Jing videos have been included in order to assist students who may have missed class and the direct teacher instruction, but also help enforce an understanding of requirements to students who need to review the expectations. They will be recorded by the teacher to explain how to locate and complete assignments and will include closed captioning and transcripts. The inclusion of videos is supported by the Modality Principle, which states that using audio to explain text and graphics can be beneficial when overload is likely (Clark, 2002). These videos, in conjunction with the website and Haiku, will allow students to access the content in the manner in which best meets their needs.

What is the most effective, efficient, and appealing manner in which the to-be learned task can be acquired by the students?

Currently, most of the Senior Project is completed individually by students. They are given a checklist of items that they must compile in their three-ring binder. As I cannot change the requirements of the Senior Project, I wanted to create content that supported both the individual Senior Project, as well as material that could be used in multiple grade levels in Career Exploration. This means that I needed to deliver information in a format that could be accessed by both independent students and students in the classroom. I believe that the most effective and appealing manner to provide students with this material is through our class learning management system, Haiku, where they will have access to all the assignments, examples, and templates. Although these documents can be used independently when necessary, they can also be used in guidance from the teacher in a whole-class format. By using Google Documents, students can both asynchronously and synchronously work on assignments with individualized teacher support. Haiku also enables students to discuss with each other and with the teacher (in discussion formats and inbox messages) in order to ensure that students have the support they might require.

In what order should the learning activities be sequenced?

            I elected to keep the learning activities in the same order as the checklist that students are currently provided with in order to complete their Senior Project. This means that students will begin with the most common workplace document: the resume. Then, we will continue to create the rest of the workplace and education focused documents (listed above), then the presentation, and finally, the e-portfolio to compile their work.

Student Perspective

Once the teacher perspective has been considered, it is important to also reflect on how students will approach this new unit. The following questions were addressed from the student perspective:

What is the goal of this task?

            Students must understand the purpose of their assignments and learning in order to engage with what they are being asked to do. As a teacher, this is where a learning objective must be provided to students. Newby, Stepich, Lehman, Russell & Ottenbrieth-Leftwich (2011) define a learning objective as “A statement of what learners will be expected to do when they have completed a specified course of instruction, stated in terms of observable performances.” The objective for this unit (although there could be specific objectives for each lesson) could be written as: Students will be able to create and collect workplace and education focused documents in an e-portfolio in order to prepare for post-graduation plans. Furthermore, on the website that I created, there is an assignment description that provides students with what each document is used for in the “real world.” This learning objective will be on the student home page on Haiku and the website for their review, in addition to its initial explanation and frequent review with the whole class in order to ensure students are aware of their learning target.

What obstacles and problems could hinder me from learning this task?

            As students are traditionally used to having this assignment with pen and paper, the main obstacle that they might encounter is the use of new technology. All the assignments (documents, presentation, and portfolio) are now being created online using Google Applications and Haiku. In order to support students unfamiliar with these tools, a lesson will be planned to provide an overview of the educational technologies students will be accessing, as well as a mini-lesson each day to demo the assignment for that day. In addition to the demo lessons in class, students will also have access to Jing videos through their Haiku site in order to review this content. In order to ensure the diverse needs of students, including those students who may have low or no hearing or low or no vision, these videos will both narrated, include closed captioning, and include a full transcript in order to support the different ways in which students best receive information.

The final step to consider in the PIE model is the educational technologies that will be used to support student learning. The following questions were addressed regarding the selection of Google applications for the technology in this learning module:

How can instructional technology improve the efficiency of student learning and/or teacher preparation?

            The educational technologies selected for this learning module are Google Applications: documents, presentations, and sites and our current learning management system, Haiku. These tools will be used to improve the efficiency of student learning and teacher preparation. For students, these tools will provide 24/7 access to all content (videos, templates, examples, rubrics, etc.) so that students are able to work at their own pace. Google Docs/Drive will also automatically save all student work, so there is no chance for lost work. Lastly, all student work will be online so the assignments can be accessed regardless of their location (home or school) or the computer they are using in class. As a teacher, these technologies can house all the necessary documents in one place so that they are easily accessible. Even more so, by using Google applications, I can have immediate access to student’s work and therefore provide them with more immediate feedback for revision. In his interview, Howard Gardner states that assessments are mystifying to students (Edutopia, 1997). Students need clear expectations and guidelines to understand what they are accountable for - the website provides this. Even more so, students need clear, explicit feedback - frequently - on the work that they are doing and the progress that they are making. By using Google applications, continuous and consistent feedback must be provided to students to help keep them on track, as well as to answer student questions and area of concern.

In what ways can educational technology effectively impact how a student addresses a learning task?

            Using Google applications as the selected educational technology for this learning module can effectively impact how my students address their learning tasks at hand. In my site, I have included not only assignment descriptions, but templates for each assignment. In their Google Drive, students can make a copy of the template and use this as a scaffold to create their own documents. This is particularly beneficial for students who might struggle with this unit due to special learning needs, as English Language learners, or any student who is new to this creation process.

Through the use of Haiku, students also have the opportunity to discuss and collaborate with their classmates and instructor. Newby, et. al. (2011) state that “Combining computers with cooperative learning strategies promotes greater quantity and quality of daily achievement, more successful problem solving, and higher performance on factual recognition, application, and problem-solving text items than do computers and competition or computers and individualized learning.” By utilizing the discussion boards, students and teacher will be able to ask and answer questions in order to not only complete their individual assignments, but collaboratively learn about workplace documents and build toward their future educational and career goals. In "Minds on Fire: Open Education, the Long Tail, and Learning 2.0," by John Seely Brown and Richard P. Adler, they note that study groups are beneficial because “Students in these groups can ask questions to clarify areas of uncertainty or confusion, can improve their grasp of the material by hearing the answers to questions from fellow students, and perhaps most powerfully, can take on the role of teacher to help other group members benefit from their understanding (one of the best ways to learn something is, after all, to teach it to others)” (Brown and Adler, 2008). In order to help students achieve their own learning, these discussion boards offer students a chance to collaborate with each other and with the teacher.

The grade level and subject being taught

This learning module has been created for high school students enrolled in a Career Exploration course or high school seniors who are completing their Senior Project as their graduation requirement. In my district, Juvenile Court and Community Schools, our students range from 7th-12th grade in a single classroom. This means that the learning module will be used accordingly with students ranging anywhere from ages 13-19, but is primarily for the 17-19 age group. In JCCS, the Senior Project is a requirement and this learning module and website were created to both ease the understanding of the curriculum and the delivery of the content and assignments.

Many of these questions were considered during Week 5 of our course, as I wanted to create a site during that week that could be applied to both my final project and my current classroom.

Purpose and learning outcomes

           

The purpose of this learning unit is to assist students with their preparation for post high school plans, whether these goals are into the workforce or continued educational pursuits. Juvenile Court and Community Schools, my district, supports the most vulnerable and disenfranchised youth of our San Diego community. Our students are labeled “at-risk” and many have been detained in juvenile hall and are currently on probation. Many of our students come to our schools after they have been expelled from their home district or after they have been considered a high school dropout and finally want to return.

The Senior Project is a graduation requirement for our students, but it is a project that is frequently given to students independently to complete. Although some students may master these assignments and learning goals, many simply complete them as routine and without using these documents to potentially benefit their future career and educational pursuits. As a teacher, I am not required to teach this content. Yet, several instances have occurred over my four years with JCCS that make me feel as though this should be content that is given classroom support and time. For example, my junior and senior level students are frequently asking me how to write a resume because they want to get a job. Even more so, I often have seniors graduate with no idea about how to apply to college, how to receive funding for college, or any foresight into how their high school choices (i.e. probation) will affect their adult livelihoods. These reasons are my purpose when I chose to create this learning unit.  

For my students, the purpose of this learning unit is to provide them with the opportunity to create documents that have immediate “real-world” application. This “real-world” application is twofold: the use of technology and the creation of workplace/college documents. For example, in the "From Curriculum to Communication: A School Immerses Itself in Tech" article, the school is based on computer access (Curtis, 2002). Students seemed to have access to a computer anywhere in the school, with desktops in the classrooms and rotating laptops to share. Google applications allow me to mimic this concept of 24/7 access. This supports student in using technology in meaningful ways, beyond their cell phones and iPods.

Additionally, students are gaining meaningful experience with building workplace documents and creating and implementing college and career goals. Delivering a presentation on the future career of their choice is relevant to students - they are practicing the technological skills that they might be expected to have in any work field (creating a multimedia presentation), developing speaking skills through the presentation, completing research to discover information on their selected career, and ending up with documents and information that they can use immediately to either apply for a job or college.

By the end of this learning unit, students will address the following California English-Language Arts standards:

• 2.5 Write job applications and résumés
• 2.6 Deliver multimedia presentations

(California Department of Education, 2009).

Additionally, students will address the following new Common Core standards:

• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.6 Use technology, including the Internet, to produce, publish, and update individual or shared writing products, taking advantage of technology’s capacity to link to other information and to display information flexibly and dynamically.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.7 Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.

(Common Core State Standards Initiative, 2012).

Principles of implementation for each item created

            The second component of the PIE model is the implementation process. As I plan on using this lesson unit and the site I created with my students this upcoming year, there are several questions that I must consider to ensure I am meeting the needs of all my diverse learners. From the teacher perspective, the following questions guided the design of this unit:

How will the instructional experience and activities be managed?

            Traditionally, this project is managed solely by the individual student and then submitted to the counselor. However, by moving this course into the classroom, I will manage their activities both online and in the classroom. Students will receive class time to work on their assignments, so that my Teacher’s Assistant and I can assist them on a need basis. However, students will also be able to work on their assignments at home and I will be available to give feedback through Google Docs on their work online. This course setup allows me to work with students both asynchronously and synchronously.

How will I manage groups of learners as well as individuals with special needs during their learning experience?

            During class time, students will be mainly working individually as the documents they are creating are specific to their future goals. In class, learners will be managed by having my TA and I floating the classroom to help students. Additionally, in order to ensure that students are using their computer time appropriately in class, I will my LANSchool application on my computer or iPad. This program allows me to monitor what students are doing on their computers, as well as block certain websites. As I do run a Special Day Class in my classroom, I also have the assistance of a Special Education teacher who assists the students on her roster. The ability for my TA, SPED teacher, and myself to have time to maneuver the classroom is supported by the use of e-portfolios. E-portfolios allows educators to divide their time more equitably for students who need assistance. According to Edutopia, the use of e-portfolios levels the playing field and “are a stimulating activity that allows learners of all levels to deepen their knowledge on a subject matter or assignment while maintaining a common ground with their peers” (Hiles, 2013). Furthermore, I believe that by the creation of the samples, templates, and rubrics, all students, regardless of learning ability, will have the scaffolds required to successfully complete their assignments.

During the implementation process, I must also consider the student’s perspective on the assignments. The following questions will allow me to consider how the student approaches their tasks and if additional considerations are needed:

How do I begin and follow the planned learning strategies?

            The website is organized in the order that the assignments should be completed. Each assignment has an assignment description, a template to use, an example to guide the student, and a rubric to ensure that each assignment is done successfully. A student can also use the Resource page or the Research Cheat Sheet page to help them navigate through their work.

Do I understand what I am doing?

            Ensuring that students understand their tasks and the rationale behind them is the most difficult to gauge. A student can use the rubric to make sure that they are completing the task at hand according to teacher expectations. Regular check-ins with students via Haiku discussion boards and messages and individual assistance for each student will have to be provided to ensure that students are not simply moving through the motions, but engaging and making the connections between their assignments and their actual post-graduation plans.

What outside materials or resources should be added?

            Due to the population of our JCCS students, we often have Career Fairs or Work Readiness programs that are intended to help expose our youth to possible career and educational paths. For many of our students, their previous criminal records may limit some of their career options. For this project, students should consider any previous fairs, programs, or workshops that they have attended, as well having an understanding of their record and age to see if this might limit some of their options.

Lastly, the educational technologies selected must be addressed during the implementation process as well:

In what ways can technology assist and impact the manner in which the student experiences the instruction?

            The use of technology for this unit will greatly enhance the manner in which the students interact with the content. Students will complete the bulk of their assignments with Internet research, which will provide them with the most up-to-date and accurate information. The use of Google applications will also allow students to keep track of their work and create engaging presentations. Lastly, Haiku will provide students access to Jing videos for additional instructional support and the opportunity for discussion boards to collaborate with classmates and teacher.

Documents created (and links to creations)

            Many documents were created in order to support this learning unit. All the documents that I created are housed on the Career Exploration Google Site that I created: https://sites.google.com/site/careerexplorationtemplate/. There are many assignments in this unit: a resume, cover letter, request for a letter of recommendation, and a thank you letter. For each of these, a template, sample, and rubric were created to support students. Additionally, there is a one-year goal paper, five-year goal paper, and scholarship essay. For each of these, there is a rubric provided, as well as the assignment description. For the presentation and the e-portfolio, I created a Google Presentation template and a Google Site template to assist students. Videos and discussion boards will be used in conjunction with the material online to ensure student understanding. Lastly, a “cheat sheet” has been created to assist students with their research for their Google Presentation on the career of their choice. This cheat sheet will guide students through various resources in order to answer the required questions that they will address in the career presentation worksheet and the actual presentation. The cheat sheet link is found at https://sites.google.com/site/careerexplorationtemplate/research-cheat-sheet

Note: The videos and other material added as a result of this redesign are developed in a private learning management system, Haiku.

Assessment or evaluation tool

The final component of the PIE model is the evaluation process. Although I am planning on implementing this unit in my classroom in the upcoming year, I have not done so yet - thus, the evaluation process of the PIE model is difficult to complete. As a teacher, there are several questions that I can consider, but not yet address. From the teacher perspective, the only question I can partially answer at this point is the following:

How can I determine to what degree the students have learned the material?

As I do not have students who have completed this unit yet, I do not have assignments to evaluate. Yet, in order to determine student learning for this unit, I created rubrics. For each assignment in my learning unit, I have created a rubric along which students can ensure they are completing the assignment to teacher expectation. According to “How Do Rubrics Help?,” rubrics allow students to know “what is expected of them, and demystify grades by clearly stating, in age-appropriate vocabulary, the expectations for a project” (Edutopia, 2008).

            There are several other questions that are part of the teacher perspective, some that ask for enrichment, student self-evaluation, and changes for the future. I plan to evaluate my unit according to these questions once I have had the chance to implement it. Similarly, without having actually taught this in my classroom, it is challenging to consider the student perspective. When I am in my classroom, I will be able to see student reactions, progress, and hear their questions, which will help me better see their perspective.

Note: This redesign is done in order to assist the implementation of this course, as it is now being taught but has yet to collect student work or have an assessment. 

            The final component in the evaluation process is with the educational technologies were selected. The questions to guide this reflection are as follows:

How can technology be used to determine the degree of student learning that has occurred?

            Students will ultimately create a Google presentation an an e-portfolio to determine their learning throughout this course. Both of these creations are housed online and are easily adaptable. If a student needs further work on any assignment, they can simply make revisions until they show mastery of both their specific assignment and technology use. These will both be assessed through rubrics.

How can technology be used to generate teacher and student feedback?

            As previously noted, Google applications will allow both asynchronous and synchronous feedback for students. As a teacher, I can immediately access and comment on student work - even while they are doing it in class - so that they can adjust their work accordingly. Students can also use Google Chat, email, or write comments within their documents to ask me specific questions. Additionally, similarly to Google Chat, students also have access to Haiku discussion boards and private inbox messages.

In what ways can technology be used to measure the effectiveness, efficiency, and appeal of the implemented instructional materials?

            The use of technology will allow me to monitor student’s work and progress throughout the entire course of study. Through student work, feedback, and online interactions, I will be able to assess whether or not the instructional materials were effective and engaging. According to Edutopia, the use of an e-portfolio has “teachers reporting huge leaps in student engagement and vastly increased peer-to-peer collaboration -- as a result of using online portfolios in the classroom (Hiles, 2013). It is my hope that at the end of this instructional unit, I will be able to experience similar results.

Use of Online Technology Tool to House Project Information

            As stated previously, all of the information for this instructional unit is housed using Google Applications. Students will be able to go to my Google Site in order to access all their assignments, rubrics, examples, and templates. They will also have access to all the templates through Google Drive in order to edit them for their individual assignment. The e-portfolio that students will create will also use Google Sites, and I have created a template of this site for their use.

Conclusion (EDU469)

            In conclusion, I feel that using the PIE model to create this lesson has allowed me to understand both my own purpose and intent, as well as ensuring that I consider my student's perspective and needs for this required senior project. The steps of Plan, Implement, and Evaluate allowed me to design and (soon) deliver lessons that are specific in their activities, purpose, and technologies to meet the needs of my students from 7th-12th grade. As my students vary so greatly in age and ability, the PIE model allowed me to ensure that my students would have the required support systems and scaffolds that they need to be successful in all their assignments, while maintaining their motivation and engagement through the use of appropriate technologies. It is my hope that I have been able to create a streamlined process for my students to not just complete their graduation requirement, but explore their future educational and career focused goals in order to become successful citizens in their communities.

Conclusion (EDU697)

            Incorporating educational technology has definite and immediate benefits to my own classroom practice in order to best meet the needs of my diverse population of learners. In order to best serve my students, my actual teaching style shifts with the incorporation of educational technology. Technology can create opportunities for students to become more autonomous, creative thinkers in relevant, real-world situations. In turn, as the educator, my role is to be more of a facilitator of student learning. In this role as facilitator, I need to ensure that each instructional design I make is supported by theory and practice of instructional design and educational technology. By redesigning an assignment from a previous work, I am able to incorporate new learnings into the material so that I can effectively meet the Program Learning Outcome 3 to “design learning opportunities that apply technology-enhanced instructional strategies to support the needs of all learners”.

Reflection

The challenges that I experienced with this redesign were ensuring that all the material I created would be relevant to my current teaching practice. It is critical to me that I am effectively designing and creating content that my students will benefit from – both as a way to save time for myself and in order to ensure that my students are benefiting from my experiences as a student and what I am learning.

Lever-Duffy & McDonald (2011) state, “educational technology literacy is an essential skill set that not only must be acquired but also must be continually updated” (Lever-Duffy & McDonald, 2011). Lever-Duffy & McDonald (2011) define educational technology as “the study and ethical practice of facilitating learning and improving performance by creating, using, and managing appropriate technological processes and resources.” The skill of using technological resources to design curriculum, deliver instruction, and assess learning is critical in the classroom. Yet, as technological literally seems to change every day, this is not a one-time learning experience. Educational technology literacy must be continually learned and updated for the simple fact that it is constantly changing. If, as educators, we do not stay updated, we are not meeting the needs of our students. Even more so, we are losing an opportunity to engage and motivate students. This is why sharing the new knowledge I have gained from my program with my students was critical in this redesign to meet student needs.

In addition to ensuring that the material I created was relevant to my classroom, I also struggled to ensure that I was meeting the needs of my learners. I wanted to address the different learning styles and so had to make sure that I was providing information in different formats – visually (templates), auditorily (teacher presentation and online videos), and in written format (website). This allowed students to receive information in various forms. Yet, I also needed to have students engage with the material in different formats. To overcome this challenge, I wanted to make sure students had the opportunity to engage with the material independently (working with the templates online), collaboratively with their peers and teacher (discussions, messaging, and Google Docs), and as a whole-class (reviewing instructions). By doing so, students cannot only receive information in the way they learn best, but interact with material in various formats as well.

Each of these challenges required careful reading and research in order to use evidence-based practices to support my instructional decisions. By doing so, I successfully redesigned a previous course to make specific decisions. This decision-making is imperative because we must understand “how the mind works during learning and of what research data tell us about what factors lead to learning” (Clark & Mayer, 2011). Overall, this process allowed me to use theory to implement educational technologies into a redesign of a course I can take into my classroom.

References

Brown, J. S. & Adler, R. P. (2008, January/February). Minds on Fire: Open Education, the Long Tail, and Learning 2.0. EDUCAUSE Review. http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ERM0811.pdf

California Department of Education. (2009). English–Language Arts Content Standards for California Public Schools . Retrieved from http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/documents/elacontentstnds.pdf

Clark, R. C. & Mayer, R. E. (2011). E-Learning and the science of instruction (3rd ed). San Francisco. Pfeiffer.

Common Core State Standards Initiative. (2012). English Language Arts Standards » Writing » Grade 11-12. Retrieved from http://www.corestandards.org/ELA-Literacy/W/11-12

Curtis, D. (2002, November). From curriculum to communication, a school immerses itself in tech. Edutopia. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/fantastic-super-use-technology

Edutopia Staff. (2008, July). How do rubrics help?. Edutopia. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/assessment-guide-rubrics

Felder, R. M., & Brent, R. (2005). Understanding student differences. Journal of Engineering Education, 94(1), 57-72. Retrieved from http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/Papers/Understanding_Differences.pdf \

Fink, Zachary. (2012, December 12). An Introduction to Technology Integration. [Video File]. Retrieved from http://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/2011/10/how-to-create-a-reference-for-a-youtube-video.html

Hall, T., Strangman, N., & Meyer, A. (2003). Differentiated instruction and implications for UDL implementation. Wakefield, MA: National Center on Accessing the General Curriculum. Retrieved from http://aim.cast.org/sites/aim.cast.org/files/DI_UDL.1.14.11.pdf

Hiles, H. (2013, January). Five ways to use online portfolios in the classroom. Edutopia, (), . Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/use-online-portfolios-in-classroom-heather-hiles

Lever-Duffy, J. & McDonald, J. B. (2011). Teaching and learning with technology (4th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc./Allyn & Bacon.

Newby, T. J., Stepich, D. A., Lehman, J. D., Russell, J. D., & Ottenbreit-Leftwich, A. (2011). Educational technology for teaching and learning (4th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.

State of the Art (Producer). (1997). Big thinkers: Howard Gardner on multiple intelligences [Video file]. Edutopia. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/multiple-intelligences-howard-gardner-video