EdTech 542 - Debrief

A Nuclear World

I understand that PBL is very student-centered compared to traditional classroom instruction. It is definitely more in-depth in terms of questioning and higher order thinking skills. I feel that I best understand how educational technology can prove an invaluable tool for PBL. Edtech allow students to delve farther into a topic than traditional classroom lessons. Students can virtually travel the world to investigate their driving questions. Want to know how the financial crisis in Greece is affecting the ordinary Greek? Get into a hangout with a Greek classroom and ask firsthand! The real world relevance component of PBL is probably the most important as it gives the student a sense of “Hey, this affects my world right now!”

What I understand least about PBL is why it has not been pushed as much into our schools. I’m guessing the time factor is problematic as it would be difficult to conduct PBL lessons for 100+ standards throughout the school year. But is it such a great way for students to learn a topic in-depth and they are unlikely to forget the experience as they have tangible products to show for their hard work. I personally can’t wait to put my PBL into action next semester.

When I first signed up for the course, I expected to learn about how to incorporate project-based lessons into the classroom. But I learned that PBL is so much more than that. Collaboration, creativity, research, problem-solving – so much goes into and comes out of PBL. I also gained great insights from my peers, which is another great aspect of PBL.

I will take what I have learned about PBL and begin designing a variety of PBL lessons for my Social Studies Department. I will also share the knowledge and teach my colleagues about PBL and how to build a PBL lesson. I have actually shown my PBL as it has progressed to my department and they really want to try it out this year. It seems there is going to be a new beginning for our students as they experience learning in a way they may never have before.

EdTech 542: From Teacher to Facilitator

In PBL my role as a teacher will change to that of a facilitator. I will still introduce material to students, but rather than simply spoon feed them all of the information, much of the learning experience will come down to students interacting with the material and their peers - a constructivist approach. This is in order to create products that will reflect the use of higher level thinking skills.

 To facilitate effectively the teacher needs to make every step of the PBL clear and concise since the students will be doing the bulk of the project on their own. The teacher must also motivate the student from the very beginning to promote personal interest and ownership in the project. Teachers must also take into account differentiated learning so that students don't disengage from a project.

The students should be given the resources necessary for them to be successful. If the project involves a digital story, then students should be given the steps involved in creating a digital story. Tutorials are a good way to ensure students can acquire skills necessary for project completion.

To become an effective facilitator would be to step back from the front of the classroom a little bit. I have been the "sage on the stage" for much of my teaching career but recently, since I began my EdTech journey, I have started to motivate my students to learn on their own and draw their own conclusions about topics in history. I have found that this has made them better able to support their arguments over the course of the year. This is what I want my students to be able to do for the rest of their lives - think for themselves.

EdTech 542 - Key Principles of Assessments

This week we focused on planning assessments for our PBL projects. According to McTighe, there are seven principles for developing performance assessments. How my PBL project addresses these principles are described below.

1. Establish Clear Performance Targets. The assessments I have planned for PBL: A Nuclear World are based on specific TN state standards. Each lesson has a clear target presented to the students in student-friendly terms.
2. Strive for Authenticity in Products and Performances. The assessments are student-centered and for the most part students are not confined to only one way of showing mastery of content. Student choice provides motivation for the student to show mastery in the way they feel most comfortable, giving them confidence in the task. However, to motivate the student to try a more than one method, the project rubric gives top scores for variety.  
3. Publicize Criteria and Performance Standards. Students should have no questions as to what the criteria and performance standards consist of. Rubrics are constructed for all performance assessments and are provided online for all students to access at the beginning of the project. 
4. Provide Models of Excellence. In order for students to perform at a high level, they should be given examples of project assessments that show the same. 
5. Teach Strategies Explicitly. As we go through each lesson involved with the project, I will teach strategies that will assist students such as researching, writing, webpage design, brainstorming, as well as reflection.  
6. Use On-Going Assessments for Feedback and Adjustment. Students will be provided feedback by both teacher and peers throughout the project. Students will also be given opportunity to reflect and improve upon their project tasks.  
7. Document and Celebrate Success. As students complete their project tasks, students that have demonstrated exemplary work shall have their work posted and commendations given. Students that may not have demonstrated exemplary work, but great improvement will also be given praise for their effort. At the end of the project students will also have a finished product they can call their own; an accomplishment that is tangible and that they may use again in the future if they wish. 

Driving Questions

This week we learned about the characteristics of good driving questions for Project-Based Learning. Through various resources such as BIE and TechForLearning.org, I was able to put together a good idea of what a good driving question should look like. My project has to do with "A Nuclear World" in which students investigate the roles nuclear weapons have played in our history and how they affect our world today. With the recent Iran deal it has become even more relevant. I also created 10 sub-questions that students would have to answer in order to answer the driving question. The most important characteristic to me for a good driving question would be the real world aspect. Students in our society have not lived in fear of nuclear weapons, mostly due to the Mutual Assured Destruction concept. However, that threat does still exist. Their eyes start to open when we begin playing with NUKEMAP (online nuclear blast simulation) and I tell them that there are likely a few warheads aimed at the nearby base at this very moment. Their eyes get really big. I explain to them the M.A.D. concept but they are caught up in the fact that there is a legitimate danger and they are close to a valuable military target. Having that real world connection, something that makes it personal, is invaluable in getting students involved in a project such as this. I'm looking forward to implementing this project into my course this upcoming year.

EdTech 542: PBL Project Research

This week we researched various Problem-based Learning projects to gain familiarity with what we are going to be constructing for our own course project. I found that most PBL projects were very student-oriented, hands-on, and very in-depth regarding their scope. I have found in projects such as creative writing that I have had students work on in the past that if they can "make the topic their own" and connect to it on a personal level that they have a much better grasp of the content.

After researching various projects I discovered a project on researching local history in the community. I could easily adapt this to my classroom. My students could conduct research on various sites of historical significance in Tennessee. As we live in a military community they could do research on Ft. Campbell, individual unit histories, the role of the city itself. In doing this the students not only gain in-depth knowledge but hopefully also gain a greater respect and sense of connection for the community they live in. If they research a military unit that a family member is/was involved in, they could also gain a closer relationship with them as well.

EdTech 506 Final Draft

Link to Website

Organization and Integration Project - EdTech 506

This week in EdTech 506 we learned about organization and integration. I chose to create a graphic organizer to demonstrate principles learned.  

The intended users for this graphic are high school students taking an online U.S. History course. The students can read at or near grade level or are able to gain access to assistance for words they cannot comprehend. Since this is a web-based course, these students should be familiar with web navigation and basic computer skills (cut and paste, snipping tool, saving documents, etc.).

The graphic organizer is related to the MAIN causes of World War One topic. In this organizer the student must complete 3 tasks. In task #1, the student demonstrates that they know what the four main causes of WWI were (recall). In task #2, the student must research and select an image that would show a relationship to the causal factor identified in the block above (making connections). In task #3, the student must explain how the image they selected in the block relates to the causal factor described (prove by citing evidence to support). 

This graphic organizer incorporates gestalt principles. Closure is demonstrated through the gaps and empty blocks in the graphic. According to the gestalt principle, the mind would want to fill in these gaps of information to provide closure on the concept as a whole (Lohr, pg. 162). 

Contiguity is demonstrated by placing similar items close to imply relationship (Lohr, pg. 162). Each task box is in a horizontal row across from the task directions to imply relationship for the task type and each box for the MAIN causal factors are connected by lines horizontally to show relationship to the overall theme of MAIN.  

Similarity is established by keeping directions and task boxes the same size across the image (Lohr, pg. 162). Lines were used to connect boxes to similar concepts as well, reducing cognitive load and enabling the learner to draw connections more easily.  

Regarding organization, hierarchy was demonstrated in the vertical alignment of the graphic (Lohr, pg. 128). The boxes all connected vertically, but the overall theme of the MAIN causes of WWI was located at the top, exemplifying the theme of the graphic as a whole. Cues were used in the form of connector lines to show relationship (Lohr, pg. 123). 

Chunking was used both horizontally and vertically in the graphic. Horizontally the groups were chunked into similar task types whereas vertically the boxes were chunked according to the MAIN causal factors of WWI. The vertical arrangement actually existed in harmony with the horizontal in that from the top down the boxes followed a logical sequence of completion regarding tasks (Lohr, pp. 125-26). Task #1 was a recall task, a Level 1 task on Webb’s depths of knowledge (Webb, 2005). Task #2 required the learner to identify and relate an image to the knowledge recalled in task #1, a Level 2 task.  Task #3 required the learner to explain how their image selection related to the causal factor, in essence connecting their knowledge of the image to the causal factor and proving their selection had validity, a Level 3-4 task.

I showed the graphic organizer to my wife and she said it was easy to understand and she could really see the organization and flow of the image. She said she didn’t see any changes that needed to be made.

I will likely use this graphic organizer in my classes this year as it requires the learner to demonstrate their knowledge through their own interpretation and understanding of the causal factors. It also gives them ownership in their own education, something I always wish for them to possess.

Works Cited

Lohr, L. (2008). Creating graphics for learning and performance: lessons in visual literacy (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson/Merrill/Prentice Hall.

Webb, Norman L. and others. “Web Alignment Tool” 24 July 2005. Wisconsin Center of Educational Research. University of Wisconsin-Madison. 2 Feb. 2006. http://www.wcer.wisc.edu/WAT/index.aspx

 Organization and Integration Graphic