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"It
is not so important to have all the answers as to be hungry
for them." |
~Carol
Ann Tomlinson |
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| I am passionate about the educational process and have wholeheartedly devoted myself to preparation and instruction in order to make the greatest possible impact on both adult and student learners. Before I became our district's Educational Technology Specialist (ETS), I thought that I had a firm grip on technology applications in the classroom. Training opportunities, however, highlighted that I had only scratched the surface of potential uses. So even though I have participated in countless professional development opportunities as well as various graduate level courses that I thought would help me become a more effective facilitator of learning, and although I have utilized technology in instructional planning and student products for over a decade, I simply became more keenly aware that this is the 21st century, and technology must be an even more integral element of the modern learning environment. Students need to use all of the tools available to them as they gather, analyze, and present information. It has always been my goal to motivate, equip, and scaffold learners for success. That must encompass literacy, adaptive, and transforming uses of technology in this digital age. Because this is at the core of my educational beliefs, and because I am now our district’s ETS, I am determined to better equip myself for impacting classroom practices by remaining current in technology applications and instructional strategies. Earning a Masters of Education in Information Science and Learning Technologies is an essential step on this journey. | |||||
I believe that learning begins with the learner. |
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This is not something new, but it is foundational; John Dewey asserted, “What children know and what they want to learn are not just constraints on what can be taught; they are the very foundation for learning.” Student-centered learning is the underpinning of my teaching philosophy and practice. This methodology stimulates thinking, builds curiosity, creates connections, and adds to students’ knowledge bases in a way that not only gives them ownership of their successes, but also equips them to become life-long learners. These thoughts are based on a constructivist philosophy implemented through inquiry-based learning. This is a student-centered approach where essential questions drive instruction. (Erickson, 2002) Learning begins with what students know; subsidiary questions are generated; new perspectives are gained by making observations, synthesizing information and drawing conclusions. Students develop a final product, share what was learned with an authentic audience, reflect and plan new inquiries. Utilization of these learning strategies in tandem with technology has an even more powerful impact on student progress. It is my desire to scaffold teachers and students as they incorporate technology – not as another way to provide drill and practice – but to maximize the achievement of all students. In the third grade classroom setting, I implemented nine inquiry-based learning cycles each school year with each of these elements in mind. Let's look at an example that occurred early in the school year, Our Hometown: Past and Present. This learning cycle was introduced by reading aloud the picture book, The House on Maple Street, by Bonnie Pryor. The text and illustrations explore changes in one location over a period of 300 years after two sisters discover an arrowhead and broken china cup at their home on Maple Street. Students then accessed personal background knowledge by engaging in a Pairs Compare cooperative learning strategy to generate ideas of what everyday items from their own lives would they want to use to teach children of the future about life today. Next, the groups categorized items and came up with a descriptive label for each category. Team Stand and Share structure was used to gain class consensus on four to six main categories worthy of further exploration. (i.e., family life, recreation, schools, transportation, et al.) Utilizing the left side of t-charts, students brainstormed information about each chosen category on a separate sheet. They were already experts on their everyday lives; they just had to document what they already knew in order to build on that knowledge. The next stage in the process involved researching Marshall long ago. Once again, the focus was on the same class-generated topics. They gleaned information through interviews, primary resources, online archived photos and news articles, and a Walking Tour of Historic Downtown Marshall. Parent volunteers and I guided small groups of five to six students on the tour. Each student had a clipboard for taking notes and making sketches. Each group also had two to three shared cameras for taking photos along the way. When research was completed, students were ready to begin the writing process. Each student authored an accordion-style city book to showcase their understanding of life in our hometown long ago and life in our hometown today. It was at varying points in final draft development that different learners would come to the dawning realization of why all of the "long ago" pages were written in their best handwriting and all of the "now" pages were entered on a computer. It was an epiphany for some of these digital natives! We celebrated (and continued) our learning by inviting grandparents and other senior friends to a Book Sharing. It was like the "Blab Schools" of long ago! Students were all reading their books aloud to someone at the same time. After these young authors read their books to two to three visitors, both adults and students had the opportunity to share reflections and memories or to ask questions of the group as a whole. It was an incredible privilege to witness the information exchange across generations. Even though the Our Hometown: Past and Present learning cycle took place during October, it won out when students voted for their favorite theme cycle of the year in May! It was, therefore, the topic for our end of year, student-created quilt project. This is just one example of learning that lasts when one begins with the learner. This information wasn't just stored in short-term memory for a unit of study. Meeting learners where they are and facilitating their ownership of the process results in rich learning experiences that aren't easily forgotten. Each student readily designed a quilt square of their favorite learning memory attached to that venture. |
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| Back
to Top I believe technology has redefined learning success for the 21st century. |
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All of these aspects came into play when I had the opportunity to work with a classroom teacher and her 4th grade students last year in establishing an online correspondence when the teacher visited Great Britain. She would send us her itinerary, and the students would research those locations and make recommendations on things she should see and do while there. They would then Skype questions and answers about her actual experiences. We did not have video conferencing capabilities, but we planned a time early in the morning (our time) when she would be at Covent Garden Piazza, London so that I could go into the classroom and pull up that location on the SMARTBoard from camvista.com. Before we began talking to her on speaker phone, we could already see her. She didn't even need the red umbrella! It seemed very natural to the students to be looking at and talking to someone on another continent. They were still waving goodbye after the conversation was over and she was walking down the street. This learning experience would not have been possible without technology. It was certainly more authentic than a typical "country report". When I was required to research in school, information provided was never questioned. This is another area that technology has dramatically changed due to the multitude of resources available online, along with the ease of placing information there. For this reason, students have to not only know how to locate information, but also how to evaluate its credibility. While I provide several safe research links for classroom use on my Web site, L.I.N.K.S. for Parents, Students, and Teachers, that's not enough. In order for students to be successful in the 21st century, they must be equipped to determine the validity of resources. Information can no longer be blindly accepted just because it appears to be legitimate on the surface. To be literate today, students have to be equipped to examine an issue from all angles - including authoring credibility, bias, or agenda. With the plethora of information available on the Internet, students encounter too many things that may appear factual but in actuality be no more than an opinion or outright fabrication. To facilitate student discernment and success in judging validity of online sources, I used the Two Truths and a Lie cooperative learning structure and this SMART Notebook file along with Information Literacy Resources and Web sites to Validate from November Learning. Eighth grade student teams chose at least one of the provided Web sites to analyze. Teams then presented their decision about site authenticity to the group along with the reasoning behind their conclusion. From that discussion, a class checklist of Web Source Evaluation Tips was generated for future reference and use. |
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to Top |
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In the words of Alvin Toffler, “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.” This statement compels me to reiterate the connection between learning and the inquiry process. In an effective classroom, students have a voice. They are not passive recipients of information, but active pursuers of knowledge. By engaging in investigative inquiry with social interaction, collaboration, and reflection, students have to assimilate new information with previous learning. In doing so, they must determine if the new learning affirms or contradicts prior beliefs and incorporate that to construct knowledge. This involves learning, unlearning, and relearning. When you put technology in the mix, you broaden students’ ability to explore, find answers to essential questions, and work more efficiently. A classroom learning cycle I've facilitated that embodies these qualities is Garden Explorations. Students began by working together to complete two sections of a corresponding KWL chart: What We Know and What We Want to Learn. Next, heterogeneous learning teams collaborated to research plant needs, collect and test soil samples, conduct plant, seed, and soil experiments, draw conclusions, and modify the initial "What We Know" statements as needed. The project culminated in a Garden Explorers' Conference where cooperative teams presented their experiment results and made recommendations for improving their particular soil sample. Teacher facilitation begins with listening, not directed teaching. In an inquiry environment, therefore, ongoing investigation, learner input, and social interaction must be pervasive and ongoing. (Reiser and Dempsey, 2007) This goal cannot become a reality without developing a strong, collaborative community. Only then do students become connected and feel safe to reveal their thinking, ask questions, and take risks. This was apparent through both the investigation and social interaction occurring daily during my classroom's Amazing Animals learning cycle. Students were grouped by the class of animal they were researching. These small groups provided peer support and critical friend comments during the research and PicMation assembly process. A PicMation (Pictures and InforMation) was the final product in which each student displayed his/her individual research. This is a large wall hanging of their chosen animal with an animal portrait, diagram of where that animal is in the food chain, a map of where that animal is found in the world, information on habitat, offspring, food, et al. When these were completed, student investigation wasn't finished. It continued along with learner input and social interaction in preparation for the grand opening of our Amazing Animal Museum. Although PicMations were museum displays, much more was involved. Museum creation began by brainstorming museum jobs: tour guides, activity directors, security guards, curator, public relations director, ticket masters, and so on. Roles were defined, jobs were chosen, and museum preparations began. Student activity directors generated original learning activities to engage museum guests. They certainly developed deep understanding of content as they prepared hands on learning tools to teach younger students concepts we had covered during the learning cycle, i.e. linking food chains, matching animals to habitats, animal adaptations, et al. Ticket masters created, published, and packaged group sets of tickets. Tour guides created guest name tags by shape and color to facilitate small group rotation through activities. The curator and public relations director composed letters to invite kindergarten classes to the grand opening of our museum. Security guards determined and arranged the museum "floor plan", generated museum safety rules, and monitored guest behavior at the museum. Tickets were taken at the door. The curator and public relations director welcomed guests and provided museum guidelines. An activity director introduced groups to their tour guides and gave rotation directions. Activity directors facilitated their learning activities. for small groups of kindergartners during six eight-minute rotations. The investigation and social interaction required for putting together all aspects of a successful museum not only engaged students, it also deepened their understanding of multiple concepts. Technology was utilized for research, collaboration, and production in each of these learning cycles, but the technology wasn't the focus. Technology was utilized as a tool to better meet our learning objectives. Because I believe that learners construct knowledge in multiple ways through an assortment of tools, experiences, resources, and contexts, (Reiser and Dempsey, 2007) I strive to promote higher levels of thinking by students as they construct their own knowledge and present their findings to varied audiences. That was the purpose of the Garden Explorers' Conference, Book Sharing, PicMation creation, and the implementation of the Amazing Animal Museum. |
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It’s true that multimedia tools and Internet resources empower students to complete learning tasks more efficiently, but technology becomes most effective when it supports collaborative work around real world tasks and students achieve higher levels of thinking. (Jonassen, Howland, et al., 2003) Such collaboration takes place in student cooperative groups in the context of my WebQuest, Sky Pictures. This online investigation engages students in an authentic task that requires higher-level thinking while addressing state content and process standards. SkyTeams consist of three members who each have a specific role: Astronomer, Astro Graphics Artist, and Time Traveler. During their skygazing mission, students navigate the web, explore known constellations, visualize new pictures in actual star patterns, practice collaborative writing to compose an original myth about one of those patterns (as it appears in the night sky during the current season), and create illustrations of their chosen star pattern as well as the Sky Picture it paints in their minds. Final products are then posted on the Web for a worldwide audience. In order to maximize student learning and successful technology integration during this WebQuest, I have embedded several scaffolding pieces. Roles are well defined. Resource links are categorized according to each role. Task steps are outlined on the process page. A note-taking template is available for those who may need that structure. SkyTeam Conference form with suggested questions is linked for generating group research discussion and debriefing. Review links are available for the writing process. Myth writing guidelines are in place. A detailed scoring guide provides criteria for successful WebQuest completion. Further scaffolding tips and templates are provided on the Teacher Page for ease in classroom integration. The amount of scaffolding necessary will vary from group to group, but it is available for those who may need it whether they're in a classroom down the hall or on the other side of the world. Scaffolding is important for adult learners too. Technology placement in a classroom does not guarantee student or teacher success. (Jonassen, Howland, et al., 2003) In the same way, teacher completion of professional development in technology integration and inquiry does not guarantee that training applications and strategies will become routine classroom practices. Subsequently, I make multiple classroom visits to facilitate transfer of learning for teachers participating in my training sessions. During these visits, the focus may be on inquiry lesson development, modeling instruction, problem solving, reflective practice, or strategies for dealing with common technology issues. Providing a few fundamental Troubleshooting Tips has made teachers and students less dependent on the tech department, and prevented unnecessary interference and interruption in the learning process. I believe teachers need to be informed, supported, and coached as they strive to incorporate technology and inquiry into their curriculum. It’s very easy for teachers to simply teach as they were taught. As David Warlick of The Landmark Project stated, “…21st century students are being educated in 19th century classrooms.” The change process, however, is very personal, and individuals’ perceptions must be taken into consideration as participants make the paradigm shift necessary to effect change in the classroom. (Rogers, 2003) That's why scaffolding support in the development of student-centered, inquiry-based learning activities that integrates technology is a valuable focus during teacher visits. For this reason, I spent extra time one-on-one collaborating with a sixth grade classroom teacher beyond training sessions to develop a classroom project, Marshall to Manaus. Given her curricular content, we brainstormed to generate ideas, team roles, and guiding questions. It was her goal to facilitate students in making connections between the temperate deciduous forest and the Amazon rainforest. Since she did not have a Web site at that time, I supported the project by providing a Web page linked from my site for ease in providing students access to online resources. By this spring, she will be trained in Web site creation, and this responsibility will shift to her. A big piece of the scaffolding process is just providing encouragement as teachers implement change. In order to provide ongoing peer support, scaffolding, and critical friend interaction, I also began guiding an eMINTS Professional Learning Community (ePLC) this year for veteran eMINTS teachers in our district. After the two year training program, some teachers had reverted back to more traditional teaching methodologies as well as basic literacy and adaptive uses of the technology. The need for ongoing peer support was recognized and embraced. This ePLC has, therefore, developed a mission, vision, and values statement to maintain our focus on student learning supported through best teaching practices and enhanced by higher level technology integration. |
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Just
as knowledge is constructed when a learner makes decisions in
integrating new information with prior understanding and experiences,
so my
concept map transformed over the course of the last year in this
Master’s program. I tried to differentiate different levels of
this semantic network with both color and shape. In addition,
I utilized 90˚ connectors to visually imitate an active circuit.
My reasoning behind that is as follows; to a casual observer,
the multiple connections appear complex and overlapping, and
even
the professional
educator may feel like they're in a juggling act (represented
by
the only graphic on my concept map). The principle behind all
of the interwoven components, however, is quite simple. If you
want
electricity,
you need a circuit.
If you want a circuit, you need two things: a power supply and
a conductor. In my semantic network, best teaching practices
provide the “power supply,” technology acts as the “conductor,”
and of course learning occurs when the light goes on. It’s the
resulting “electricity”
that powers our world.
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