Online Learning in K-12 Classrooms

Click on the link below to learn more about the benefits of online learning in K-12 classrooms.
http://eseiter.edu.glogster.com/online-learning-in-k-12-classrooms/

Today’s students’ learning styles have changed. Traditional teaching methods such as lectures, students reading textbooks, and teacher dominated discussions no longer are meeting students’ needs. According to a 2000 National Center for Educational Statistics study, “American children between the ages of 9 and 17 use technology more than any other age group” (Gillard & Bailey, 2007, p. 87). However, these digital natives lack the knowledge of how to use technology as “informed consumers, intelligent learners, creative producers, and effective communicators” (Lemke & Coughlin, 2009, p. 54). For this reason, online learning through course management systems can provide the environment for students to develop critical 21st century and Web 2.0 skills in a collaborative and safe setting.

Online learning is the wave of the future. According to Hall and Elliot (2003), “[a]s students, academia, industry, and society in general continues to anticipate increased “real world” technology use in the educational process, the demand for technology enhanced learning environments no doubt will grow substantially” (Gillard & Bailey, 2007, p. 92). Simply put, this concept is not going away anytime soon; however, there will undoubtedly be many that resist this change from traditional instruction.

Many teachers may question the quality of learning that can result by students through online learning. Although using a computer to complete activities may seem more relevant to our tech-savvy students, teachers still must use quality lesson design based around meaningful questions to generate valuable learning. Moodle is an “all in one package” of tools that promotes “learning by doing, sharing, observing, and working with others” (“5 myths about teaching with Moodle,” 2010). Student-led discussions do not account for a large percentage of classroom instruction time; however, “[o]ne clear indicator of collaboration is sustained, on-task discussion among students” (Lemke & Coughlin, 2009, p.56). Through the use of chat features, discussion boards, and wikis, students can continue academic discussions beyond the walls of the classroom and collaborate in a less restrictive environment.

Online learning can play a significant role in preparing students for the highly collaborative workforce of the 21st century. Teachers are still critical in ensuring that learning is authentic and relevant and need to stay abreast of how online learning can increase their effectiveness in preparing students for the future. Educational institutions are not the only ones utilizing Moodle; with over 9 million users and over 50,000 learning communities worldwide, businesses and private organizations also use Moodle as a source of communication and collaboration. Allowing students to take part in an online learning community will provide them with the skills necessary to proficiently communicate and work with other individuals towards a common goal.


References:

5 myths about teaching with moodle. (2010, December 8). Moodle. Retrieved January 29,2011, from http://moodle.org/mod/page/view.php?id=7742

Gillard, S., & Bailey, D. (2007). Technology in the classroom: Overcoming obstacles, reaping rewards.The International Journal of Learning, 14(1), 87–93. Search using the Education Research Complete database by the article's title.

Lemke, C., & Coughlin, E. (2009). The change agents. Educational Leadership, 67(1), 54–59.

Moodle statistics. (2010, December). Moodle. Retrieved January 29, 2011, from http://moodle.org/stats/

 

Reflecting on Technology, Differentiated Instruction & UDL

Every student learns differently and for this reason, a “one size fits all” curriculum will not meet the needs of all students in our classrooms. All students have backgrounds and learning styles and preferences uniquely their own. “How we recognize and relate to those differences depends on the prevailing culture, how individuals choose to make their needs known, and the technologies available to accommodate differences” (Bray, Brown & Green, 2004, p. 1). Although these differences may present many challenges, educators must continue to strive to embrace student differences and identify how such differences can be valuable in the classroom.

Reflection is a critical component of teaching. Every day I am analyzing the actions of myself and my students and making changes necessary to promote active learning the classroom. Differentiated instruction was a term that I was always familiar with and I recognized the value behind it; however, I was a bit misguided. Dr. Tomlinson reminds us that differentiated instruction is “one clear set of goals with different systems or avenues to reach them” and not simply “individualization” (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009). Universal design for learning (UDL) supports the differentiated instruction model as it “builds maximum flexibility into curriculum” (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009). According to Dr. Rose, many curriculums are poorly designed and make it difficult to accommodate students’ learning differences. The UDL approach encourages educators to remain flexible by providing multiple means of representations, expression, and engagement (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009). Learning more about differentiated instruction and UDL has encouraged me to take multiple factors into consideration prior to planning lessons and developing curriculum.

Teachers can differentiate based on students’ readiness, interests, and learning profiles. In the past, I have differentiated primarily based on students’ readiness due to my ability to quickly assess students to determine their level of understanding for various academic concepts. Next year, I plan to have parents help their child complete a comprehensive student survey, such as the one developed by the University of Connecticut (http://www.gifted.uconn.edu/sem/pdf/thingsdo.pdf) and answer questions about their child’s previous schooling experiences and learning preferences. Such a survey will provide me with enough information to determine what instructional practices will prove to be most beneficial with individual students and the class as a whole.

Technology can lessen the challenge of differentiating instruction in a Kindergarten classroom. My new SmartBoard undoubtedly will allow me to introduce and practice core concepts in an engaging manner that will appeal to a variety of learning styles and preferences. Websites such as http://www.iknowthat.com/com and http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/learn.jsp contain many leveled activities that will meet individual students’ needs. Allowing students to use technology to demonstrate their understanding of concepts encourages student creativity, individuality, and choice. Teaching students how to use technology tools such as VoiceThread, Photo Story, and other digital storytelling programs supports the UDL and differentiated instruction models as they support flexibility in representation, expression, and engagement.

Change is necessary to keep the learning process from becoming stagnant. The first step I must take to becoming a greater proponent of differentiated instruction is to analyze the challenges that my students and I face based on student differences and determine how those differences can be advantageous in our classroom. Second, I must make a conscious effort to differentiate when developing lessons by determining how the curriculum and materials used can be adapted to meet all students’ needs. Lastly, I must incorporate technology as a means of differentiating instruction in my classroom. All of my students are digital natives with an understanding of technology that far surpasses that of Kindergartners ten years ago. Their familiarity with technology and sense of comfort when using technology supports its use as a means of differentiating instruction in the classroom. Maintaining a high level of awareness about the various factors that contribute to student achievement and using technology resources that appeal to a variety of learners will promote the principles of UDL and differentiated instruction and will ensure that all students’ learning needs are being met.


 
References:
Bray, M., Brown, A., & Green, T. (2004). Technology and the diverse learner: A guide to classroom practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Reaching and engaging all learners through technology. Baltimore: Author.
 

GAME Plan Reflection and Overall Learning

Throughout the past seven weeks, I have created, adapted, and reflected upon my GAME plan. Creating a GAME plan to facilitate self-directed learning “enables you to customize your approach to learning tasks, to develop relevant skills that are important to you, and prepares you for lifelong learning” (Cennamo et al., 2009, p. 4). According to Cennamo, Ross, and Ertmer (2009), there are four steps involved in a GAME plan: 1. Set Goals 2. Take Action to meet those goals 3. Monitor progress toward achieving goals, and 4. Evaluate whether the goals were achieved (p. 3).

Set Goals:

My initial goals fell under the Model Digital-Age Work and Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership categories. My first goal was to become more knowledgeable about my soon to come Interactive Whiteboard and how to effectively integrate it into my Kindergarten classroom. My second goal was to become an active member of the school technology committee to ensure that technology integration in the classroom is being recognized as an issue of importance.

After week two, I decided to change my second goal to one that would be more applicable in encouraging my effectiveness as an educator. I decided to focus on developing a class web page because it is more measurable and will have an immediate impact on how I communicate with parents.

Take Action to meet those goals:

Over the past seven weeks, I have been to several district meetings regarding SmartBoards where we have discussed the board’s features and ways to integrate them in our classroom. I have also participated in several discussions with building colleagues where we have shared ideas about our plans for classroom integration. All of these interactions have left me excited to incorporate this learning tool into all aspects of my day. Visiting websites that feature interactive whiteboard tools and activities has also increased the likelihood that I will take advantage of this valuable tool as I make notes of activities that correlate with my curriculum.

Monitor progress toward achieving goal:

Monitoring my progress was critical in determining if adjustments needed to be made to my GAME plan and reaching my ultimate goals. To reach my goal in creating a class web page, I created mini goals to make success come more easily. First, I reviewed several other classroom web pages and noted their features. Second, I chose to focus on creating one or two tabs/sections for my web page each week. Taking small steps allowed me to stay focused without it becoming overwhelming. I am still monitoring my progress towards my goal of becoming more knowledgeable about integrating an interactive whiteboard in my classroom. Through the use of a journal and post-its, I write down activities that are applicable to my students and curriculum and store them in a place where I am likely to refer to them. Due to the fact that I do not have my SmartBoard yet, staying organized is critical as it will increase the likelihood that I remember to utilize the resources that I have discovered.

Evaluate whether the goals were achieved:

Achieving my first goal will undoubtedly take years and is a work in progress. I look forward to applying my newfound knowledge about interactive whiteboards and through trial and error, determine which activities are most effective in teaching my Kindergartners. Time and practice will allow me to become more proficient in integrating technology in my everyday classroom routines and instructional practices. My second goal of creating a class web page has been achieved. The next step is to continually evaluate it and make sure that it is fulfilling its purpose of informing families about the happenings in our classroom. Through parent feedback, I will be able to make changes that are necessary to increase its effectiveness in relaying such information.

Overall Reflection:

Technology integration is a critical component to ensuring that we are providing our 21st century students with the higher level thinking and collaboration skills that are necessary to be competitive with other students in the world. Through social networking, wikis, and digital stories, students can express their thinking and utilize their creativity to demonstrate their understanding of concepts in a 21st century manner. Teaching students how to use these tools to benefit their learning will provide the students with: opportunities to develop collaboration skills, practical applications for technology tools, and an opportunity to develop higher level thinking skills in a relevant manner.

One immediate adjustment that I plan to make is to incorporate problem-based learning into my instructional practices. Dr. Peggy Ertmer encourages the use of this instructional method where the students learn new content in the context of a problem. Throughout the process the students use higher level thinking skills and collaboration to clarify and refine the problem, collect and analyze data, and present solutions (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009). PBL allows teachers and students to explore content in a meaningful and relevant manner.

References:
Cennamo, K., Ross, J. & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology Integration for Meaningful Classroom Use: A Standards-Based Approach. (Laureate Education, Inc., Custom ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2010). Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas. Baltimore: Author.

International Society for Technology in Education. (2008). National Educational Technology Standards (NETS•T) and Performance Indicators for Teachers. Retrieved September 14, 2010, from http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_T_Standards_Final.pdf

NETS-S and GAME Plans

I have always considered myself a student of learning. How is it possible to teach students without having a clear understanding of their position as learners? Creating my own GAME plan allowed me to break up the learning process into small, manageable steps. Effectively utilizing technology in the classroom can be overwhelming and frustrating in the beginning stages due to the unknown and period of simple trial and error. Welcome to the world of our students.

Effective teachers support student learning when they “model and apply the National Educational Technology Standards for Students (NETS•S) as they design, implement, and assess learning experiences to engage students and improve learning; enrich professional practice; and provide positive models for students, colleagues, and the community” (ISTE 2007). Encouraging students to use the GAME plan to create goals, create a plan of action, monitor, and evaluate teaches students that learning is an on-going process and never is complete. Through technology, teachers and students now have the capabilities to extend learning far beyond the walls of a classroom.

The GAME plan lends itself well to problem-based learning. Here the students could create a goal based on a problem. By asking essential questions, the students can develop a plan to find a solution to their problem. Throughout the process, the students would be asked to monitor their progress and determine if changes need to be made to the plan. Finally, the students would be asked to evaluate the end result, reflect upon what they learned throughout the process, and determine if follow up steps are needed. Utilizing the GAME plan format encourages students to become conscious of their decisions as learners.

The NETS-S promote utilizing technology to teach creativity and innovation, communication and collaboration, research and information fluency, critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making, digital citizenship, and technology operations (ISTE 2008). Each of these skills can be practiced when technology is used to find a solution to a problem-based lesson designed using the GAME plan.

References:

http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-teachers/nets-for-teachers-2008.aspx

http://www.iste.org/standards/nets-for-students/nets-student-standards-2007.aspx

Evaluating and Revising my GAME Plan

Revisiting your goals is always beneficial as it requires reflection. Acknowledging one’s accomplishments is critical to remaining on the path towards an ultimate goal. In this case, I am trying to become more proficient in using technology to advance learning in and outside of my classroom. I am proud to say that my class webpage is up and running and I have already received several emails from parents regarding the information it provides. Granted this is a work in progress, but I look forward to the day when it is simply commonplace to update my webpage with relevant information and parents reference it frequently to stay up-to-date with our classroom happenings. You can visit it at http://minnie.hartlandschools.us/groups/msseiterskindergartenclass/. I welcome any comments or suggestions that you may have.

My second goal is to become more knowledgeable about interactive whiteboards; SmartBoards, in particular. After conversing with a colleague, who is also a member of the technology team, we decided that it would be beneficial to create a database that contains links to the different interactive whiteboard resources. Creating such a database would increase the likelihood that other teachers would use such resources to integrate technology in their classrooms. In addition, we also hope to evaluate these resources to ensure that we are using the best learning resources for our students. Understandably, this will be a project that could be years in the making; however, the discoveries that will occur along the way will help guide me in the right direction of become more proficient in integrating technology into my classroom.

Evaluating my GAME Plan

The final step of a GAME plan is a critical component to determining success and/or possible next steps. To support the development of self-directed learning, it is important to “reflect on how well you have met your goals and determine whether you should modify your strategies for future learning tasks” (Cennamo et al., 2009, p. 3). Prior to setting my goals for my GAME plan, I wanted to increase my effectiveness in communicating important classroom information and fun happenings with my students’ families. Creating a class webpage seemed like a natural first step. With my webpage constructed and ready to be made public, the goal of constructing a webpage is complete; however, future evaluations must be made to determine its effectiveness by asking for parent feedback. This will be a work in progress for quite a while.

My second goal was to become more knowledgeable about interactive whiteboards as I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of mine in November. To better familiarize myself with how to utilize an interactive whiteboard to support student learning, I subscribed to a variety of elementary technology blogs and frequently review their updated posts. Educational technology blogs such as http://ilearntechnology.com/ and http://primarytech.globalteacher.org.au/ have posts that often contain links to engaging activities and descriptions as to how to best integrate these tools into the classroom. Staying up-to-date on these informational blogs helps to maintain my enthusiasm about integrating technology in the classroom and extends my GAME plan for years to come.

Reference:

Cennamo, K., Ross, J. & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology Integration for Meaningful Classroom Use: A Standards-Based Approach. (Laureate Education, Inc., Custom ed.). Belmont, CA:Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.



 

To recap my GAME Plan, I have created two goals for myself that are in accordance to the NETS-T standards. To meet the Model Digital-Age Work and Learning standard, I am creating a class website that will increase my ability to communicate relevant information to my students’ families. Concurrently, I am taking steps toward becoming more knowledgeable about Interactive Whiteboards through professional discourse and my own research.

My class website is a work in progress but I am planning on making it available to parents at the end of the week. Having looked at other teacher’s websites, I had a good idea as to what components I wanted to included on mine; however, I look forward to gaining the parents’ insight into its effectiveness in communicating classroom information. In conjunction with the website (which is actually a wiki), I have an attached blog where I plan to include updates about the classroom happenings. While the wiki will be more informational, I hope that the blog will provide the families with a better understanding of what is actually happening within the four walls of our classroom through pictures and conversational text.
This week, I met with the school technology committee to discuss the upcoming installation of our Promethean Boards. With deadlines in place, it is all the more critical to have a tentative plan as to how I would like to integrate this piece of technology into my already functioning without Kindergarten classroom. Fortunately, one visit to Promethean Planet is all it takes to provide me with plenty of ideas, as it contains numerous flip charts that are relevant and applicable in meeting the standards in our core curriculum.

This week’s learning resources has left me thinking more about using technology as assessment tools and assessments in general. Cennamo, Ross, and Ertmer (2009) emphasize the importance of jointly planning lessons and assessments. They also remind educators to only use technology as an assessment tool when it facilitates learning, and is “not simply a novelty” (p. 146). I think this is an important idea to reflect upon. As new technology infiltrates our classrooms (some more quickly than others), much thought must be given to how it should be best incorporated to ensure that teachers are still using best practices as instructional strategies. Technology such as wireless responders fulfills these guidelines as they allow teachers to receive immediate feedback about specific concepts assessed through a forced-choice assessment. Students, in turn, also benefit as they receive the same feedback in an engaging manner. I look forward to having access to this tool in the near future.

Reference:
Cennamo, K., Ross, J. & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology Integration for Meaningful Classroom Use: A Standards-Based Approach. (Laureate Education, Inc., Custom ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning