Given that my GAME plan was primarily written for steps I would take if teaching full time and I am currently in a substitute situation, I have been focusing on gaining insights from other teacher's lessons. This week I began thinking about how I could be more active at doing this other than primarily making passive observations like I had been. This week I happened to get job assignments for the school I taught at full-time previously three days in row subbing for different teachers. All three teachers left lessons dealing with technology for me to do with students. This gave me a better opportunity than usual to investigate technology use in the classroom a little more actively. I was able to chat some with the teachers I subbed for regarding the technology being used. Today I also asked the students to complete a survey for me about what types of technology tools they have used in school projects, what other types of tools they would be interested in using to complete projects and how they feel the technology use has impacted their learning.
Monday I was subbing in a social studies class. The civics class was using an on-line game program that they are "test driving" for the school district. Students were playing a virtual football game and the number of yards they would gain or lose in the game were determined by their answers to review questions and the difficulty of those questions. Since it is a new program being tried out the teacher is not sure yet as to how much it is contributing to student learning, but some of the students were having fun playing it so it does seem as though it would have some contribution to student learning of basic concepts and vocabulary. Tuesday I was co-teaching with a teacher who teaches a computer lab based math class. She was using an on-line math tutoring/practice program with her students. Students were presented with problems to solve and they could click to get hints if they needed them. She told me she is not sure if the program has been improving student test performance though she has seen some increase in test scores, but she said where she has seen the biggest difference is that because the program gives students real world problems to solve, her students have no longer been asking how they would ever use the material in real life. The class I am substituting in today is working on a typical research paper assignment using internet resources. This is also the class who I distributed the surveys to. This teacher's other class today is completing a webquest.
The surveys helped to give me a bigger picture of what tools other teachers have been using and it seems despite our state being part of the 21st Century Learning program, use of web 2.0 tools has been limited. All students responded that they had used Power point, many had used blogs, only a few had used wiki's and message board discussions. None of the students indicated that they had used digital concept mapping, digital story boards, voice threads, or podcasts. Some of the students were asking me what these were. Many of them indicated interest in using digital story boards, blogs, virtual field trips and podcasts. A couple indicated interest in using their cell phones in learning. One mentioned using cell phones to access the internet in a classroom with a limited number of computers. Another student said he would like it if teachers sent out homework assignment instructions and due date reminders to student cell phones via text messaging. Several students felt that technology which allowed them to view each other's projects and provide each other with feedback would be beneficial for their learning.
Actively seeking feedback from the teachers using the technology as well as from students regarding the technology they were using in their classes added an additonal element that is hard for me to gain from only being in the classrooms temporarily. It would also be helpful if I could find some teachers using more web 2.0 tools to find out how they are using them and gain feedback from them and their students as to their impact on student learning and motivation.
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While I am sure that taking this class and completing the assignments without having a permanent teaching position is hard, it seems like you are still gaining a lot from your substitute positions. I am also sure that the teacher’s which you are subbing for are very pleased to have someone in their classroom who knows a little about technology integration in the classroom. I would be very afraid leaving a substitute a lesson plan that integrated technology with my 22 first graders! I am sure these teachers would be very interested in the learning that you are experiencing from this class and ideas of how they can use their accessible technology to help their students succeed.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that stuck out to me was how you said that the students wished they could see other student’s projects and provide feedback. I also believe that this would be beneficial to the students’ learning. I know I can sometimes learn more from a peer’s teaching of something than I can from an immensely educated professor’s lecture!
It sounds like the district you are subbing in has a lot of technology and the students seem to use it on a regular basis, which is great. Giving the students a survey is also a great idea. That might be something I do with my students just to see what their interest level and knowledge is in different technologies. If they are more open to learning how to use something they will probably be more engaged in the lesson.
ReplyDeleteThe one thing that I found most interesting is that a student wants homework assignments and reminders sent to him via text message. I have to wonder how much technology is enabling students and making them lazier and less responsible in some ways. I write down my assignments on the board, check students' assignment books to make sure it's written down, and post assignment and reminders on my website. The way I see it, if a student can't do the correct assignment and doesn't know when a test is with those three things being done, then they are just lazy. I understand the convenience is wonderful, but how much can we spoon-feed the students as well as the parents? I kind of digressed from your topic, but it is a fine line that we have to be cautious of as teachers.
Emma,
ReplyDeleteMy state was the 2nd state to adopt the 21st Century Learning Program as an entire state so my district has been working towards purchasing a lot of technology devices and provide teachers with training as to how to use them. One area where they are weak though is in training teachers in the use of web 2.0 technology. Several years back when the program was first being adopted, but the schools had not recieved the funding for technology integration yet, they did offer a few training sessions on the use of blogs and wiki's though those trainings were 1 hour trainings held at only a couple of physical locations after school in the evenings in the middle of the school week. To attend them required the teachers to travel to another school, sometimes as much as 30 miles away after teaching all day when they had to turn around and be back at school in the morning. Once they started being able to purchase their high tech devices the district provided trainings shifted to focusing on the use of those devices and web 2.0 training got pushed out of the picture. As a result I think a lot of teachers are using their new expensive tools to teach via old methods rather than incorporating new free web 2.0 methods which are more learner centered.
As for the student who wanted homework assignments and reminders sent via text message, this is a student I had in class last year so I am somewhat familiar with him and his situation. I also discussed this idea with him some after he made that suggestion. Granted he can be a bit lazy about school work, but from what he said between this year and last year, he learned a valuable lesson. He failed my class last year only because he often did not do the assignments. Wednesday he told me he was sorry that he did not do his work for me and sometimes acted rudely in my class. He said, "I want to rewind to last year and pay attention and do my work." He said last year he thought my class was boring and that he was not learning much in it, but this year he is retaking the class with the new teacher and thinks I did a much better job at teaching the class than she is. He is also realizing that he is remembering a lot of what I taught him last year when he didn't think he was learning anything and wonders how much he would have learned if he hadn't spent as much time sleeping in my class as he did. As far as his cell phone text message request goes, due to problems at home he misses quite a lot of school and does not have internet access at home which makes it hard for him to get the assignments at school or to check the web pages for his classes to look up the assignments and due dates. Given those circumstances I can understand why he feels text messaging of assignments and due dates would be helpful for him, even if it something that is not likely to happen.