PBL: Final Reflection

What do you now understand best about Project Based Learning?

That PBL is truly a collaborative effort, not just among the students, but the teachers developing the project.  A good PBL lesson involves the input of many people to design, create, implement and review.  While a single teacher can conduct a PBL class, it enhances the students’ chances to retain learning when it is a school wide approach.

What do you understand least well?

This class provided a good foundation for beginning to use PBL.  However, not actually doing it in my school, I am still unsure what it will look like in action.  I have seen some videos that showed elements of a PBL class, but I still would like to see what one looks like live and be able to ask questions when I am uncertain as to what is happening.

What did you expect to learn in this course?

Since I had no experience with PBL, I expected to be introduced to what it was and how to use it in the classroom.  I believed this course would provide me with the necessary tools to develop a PBL classroom.  I also hoped to be able discuss the benefits of PBL at my school in order to persuade the administration to consider giving it a test.

What did you actually learn?

I learned that PBL requires a lot of time to prepare.  Teachers must coordinate with one another to ensure learning is focused on the driving question.  Math can be taught in a more meaningful way that excites even the least interested students.  Students can be given more voice in the choices they make, thus better furnish them with the tools and skills needed for the 21^st century world.

More or less, and why?

I learned more than I expected because I had no real idea what PBL entailed.  I only knew it had something to do with projects.  The work required to develop a PBL classroom is incredibly large.  The potential resulting benefits for student learning is even larger.  I don’t know if PBL would be feasible in my school because it would require a shift in thinking among administrators and teachers, but I do know that my students would benefit immensely from it.

What will you do with what you have learned?

I started this course about the same time I reviewed a PBL program for possible inclusion in my school.  I am now better prepared to create a proposal for my school to consider adopting PBL for a test run to increase our students’ motivation, test scores and employability skills.

Designing Integrated Curriculum

When my students take the GED Ready Test for Social Studies or Science, I hand them a calculator.  Their first response is, “Why do I need a calculator for the Social Studies/Science test?”  I explain to them that there is Mathematics in Social Studies and Science.  Inevitably, they say “That’s dumb.”  Therein lies the biggest challenge in interdisciplinary projects.

Education has done a disservice to students by separating learning into disciplinary courses.  In real life, scientists, engineers, archaeologists – anyone and everyone – uses skills learned in all courses in an interconnected way.  Students, however, if they have never been exposed to this, don’t see that connection (this helps explains why students in Algebra have trouble conceiving letters as numbers).  Once students begin working on interdisciplinary projects, they will begin to make those connections (a relief for the Math teacher who tires of the question, ‘why do I need to know this?’).  If students are exposed at an earlier age to this process, it will be more natural for them as they age.  The longer the delay, the harder it will be to reshape their ways of thinking what is a Math/English/Social Studies/Science class.

A second challenge is from educators themselves who may have never taught this way before.  Like the students, you are taking them out of their comfort zone and they may resist.  As a Math teacher, I can teach about numbers, but when it comes to English, I don’t teach too “good”.  But, in an interdisciplinary approach, I don’t have to teach English.  I will work with a team providing the students with the mathematical education they need to successfully complete the project.  Working with fellow teachers, especially those outside our field, can be another new and rewarding experience.  As a team member, you will be designing and implementing a curriculum together.  You will have peers to discuss ideas with (similar to most business environments) and develop a stronger plan.  An added benefit is that the students will see teachers working together, modeling how to collaborate.

Currently, my school is not a traditional one.  We do not have courses like a high school.  When it comes to academic education, we are focused on basic skills and credit recovery or high school equivalency.  I am the only GED teacher.  I am responsible for educating my students in all four GED subjects.  Our high school diploma programs are through established online diploma programs.  We don’t have any say in curriculum.  In order to implement an interdisciplinary approach, it would require a radical change in thinking at our administrative level – something that I don’t foresee happening.  Unfortunately, our students, many who have been failed by the traditional approach to teaching, would benefit greatly from an interdisciplinary curriculum.  They are in dire need of 21st century skills in collaboration and communication and yet we focus on getting them to pass the GED (or obtained their diploma) just so we can meet our quotas.

 

PBL: Effectiveness in the Diverse Classroom

Find an article on the topic of the effectiveness of Project Based Learning in diverse classrooms. Post a reflection on your thoughts regarding your research this week on Project-Based Learning. What were you able to find? How do you think PBL will fit into your teaching style? Do you have an idea for a project? If so, begin articulating it now.

From the research I have done, the strongest aspect of project-based learning is in how it develops skills beyond intellectual knowledge that students will need when they move on.  By working in teams, students must learn to interact with one another.  Placing students in groups with others who they might not normally associate with at school prepares them for a working environment where they will not know co-workers when they first start working.  They need to learn how to integrate in order to form a cohesive team.

To increase the chance for success, teams need to be accountable for the success of each individual.  This I believe would be the hardest concept for students new to PBL to accept.  Many have always learned in an environment where only what they did mattered for their own grade.  Students who have been previously successful might be initially agitated that they have to assist their fellow classmates in order to obtain a satisfactory grade.  However, if the project is thoroughly planned and introduced to the students with clear and concise assessment rubrics, the students will be fully aware of what the requirements are from the beginning, then they can begin to understand how this different approach will benefit them.

Over the years, I have generally adapted my teaching to my students under the philosophy of whatever it takes.  If my students need a whole class lecture approach, that is what I will do.  If one-on-one tutoring is needed, then I will do that.  This is not to say that it will be easy to incorporate PBL.  The aspect of PBL that I think will be the hardest adjustment for me is in how the content is presented.  As a math teacher at a school that is very test/numbers driven, I have always focused on teaching my students how to solve certain problems.  Many of my students come from schools where they were unsuccessful in direct instruction, however, that is what they know and it is what they are comfortable with despite the results.  Therefore, switching to a PBL classroom would be a big adjustment.  Considering that we have an open entry/exit system, I will always have to deal with this issue.

I am a GED teacher.  I cover each of the four subjects (Language Arts, Math, Science and Social Studies).  I have students who need to pass all four test mixed in with students who only need to pass one, two or three tests.  They are at different levels of ability with different strengths and weakness in each subject.  Having a class on just one topic in a given period would not be beneficial as possibly half the students don’t need to focus on that topic.  My thoughts are that for my project to be the most productive, it must involve students creating some sort of study guide or game that centers around concepts they need to focus upon in order to be successful on the GED test.  This would allow students to develop the skills they need while creating material that their peers could use to strengthen their knowledge base.  Teams could be assigned based upon whichever test(s) the students need to pass.

REFERENCE

Vega, V. (2012). Project-Based Learning Research Review. Edutopia. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/pbl-research-learning-outcomes

 

Project Based Learning: The Beginning

This is my first experience with Project Based Learning.  I come in to this class with 8 MET courses behind me and yet, I come in still feeling uncertain about what to expect.  While I have begun introductory research on PBL, I still do not know what a project entails in time, resources and planning.  My early readings have me believing that PBL could be a good strategy for where I teach, but my unique situation creates many questions that I want to answer. Can PBL work when students enter and exit the class at different times?  How do you conduct PBL when students are working on different content and at different levels?    I teach GED students. Their focus is on learning what they need to pass the test.  They know they only have to be in classes until they pass.  Therefore, there is no set time for them to be in class like a traditional school.  What kind of difficulties does this pose for PBL and how can they be overcome?  Hopefully, when this class ends, I will have answers to these and other classes

JoeBod

Relative Advantage of Using Technology to Make the Content Areas More Engaging, Relevant and Authentic

You are taking a walk and you come upon an emergency.  It might be a house on fire, someone is unconscious or an act of violence is being perpetuated.  What could you do? Did I mention it is 1914?  In 1914, if you needed to get help, chances are they will arrive too late. However, in 2014, most people have cell phones and help can be there in minutes. Technology today helps us in so many positive ways outside of school.  Why should we not use it to help our students in positive ways inside the school?

Today’s students have grown up on technology.  It has been apart of their lives as far as they can remember.  Not always a good thing, but a real thing.  Since it is so real, by using technology in the classroom, we can tie what we are teaching our students to their lives and make learning a part of their lives.  And that is a good thing.

Ever notice students talking about a movie they saw?  It might have been designed to purely entertain, but often times it will spark a conversation about the topic of the movie that leads to inquiry.  A teaching moment has been created.  Technology in the classroom can do that, too.  It can spark an inquisitive discussion.  Students become engage and participate.  They receive immediate feedback, not just from the teacher, but the other students (Raju, 2013).

What about the students who have difficulties learning?  Students with low attention spans will be aided by switching activities (Raju, 2013).  This is much easier to accomplish with technology.  A short video followed by a mini quiz on the material using clickers can prepare them for an interactive lesson on the computer.  If students have physical challenges, close captioning can be used for those with hearing impairments or text to speech software can aid a student with little or no manual skills.

What impact does technology have on students’ learning?  Instead of listening to a lecture, students who are involved in the learning by creating videos on the subject – on a historical figure, a mathematical concept, interviewing an expert in their field or a time-lapse representation of a phenomenon occurring in nature – will better retain the information (Bernard, 2009).  As a side benefit, while working with technological tools, the students will acquire non-content area skills that will benefit them in their future (Raju, 2013).  This could be using Word in a math class to create a glossary of terms or Excel in a social studies or language arts class to create charts and graphs to support a position. Frequently asked questions can be placed on a class blog, wiki or webpage that students can access again later or if they were absent, thus saving class time (Bernard, 2009).

With technology, the classroom does not have to be contained inside four walls.  Students can connect with people who are using the what they learned in school in their careers (Raju, 2013).  They can  see what engineers, archaeologists, botanists and others do in a typical day (or not so typical day).  They can learn about other cultures by communicating with other students around the world (Raju, 2013).

Even a little bit of technology in your class, regardless of the content area, can have a dramatic effect on students.  I teach students who left school without getting a diploma.  A few years ago, my school purchased interactive whiteboards.  In order to quickly use them, I created flipcharts that were practice problems.  The students would read the problem and answer a multiple choice question using a student response system.  This was rote memorization and drill and practice put on a big screen.  My students began to work harder in class.  They were more involved in the lesson.  They enjoyed coming to my class more than some others who weren’t using the technology as much.  Did it help? Every year, the percent of students who passed the GED test went up a couple of points. This past year, over ⅔ of my students achieved their GED.  These were students who were unsuccessful in the traditional school setting.  With the change to the GED 2014 Test, students will need to have higher-ordered thinking skills and even more technological skills.  Thus the biggest advantage to using technology in all content areas is because the future depends upon it.

Bernard, S. (2009). How to teach with technology. Edutopia. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/digital-generation-lesson-ideas

Raju, S. (2013). Top 10 reasons to use technology in education: iPad, tablet, computer, listening centers. YouTube. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulb4jl3xqs8

Relative Advantage of Hypermedia in the Classroom

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Roblyer, M. D., & Doering, A. H. (2013). Integrating educational technology into teaching (6th ed., New International ed.). Upper Saddle River: Pearson.

Schroeder, B. (2010).  10 Reasons to Use Multimedia in the Classroom.  Global Grid For Learning.  Retrieved from http://www.globalgridforlearning.com/10-reasons-to-use-multimedia-in-the-classroom

Relative Advantage of Using Spreadsheets and Databases in Education

Charts and graphs are an enigma in Mathematics Education.  I say this because from my experience I find them to be so self-explanatory that they need a lot of explanation. WHAT?!?!?!  Hence the mystery.  Most of us look at a chart or graph and think, “Okay, I know what this is telling me.”  It is obviously right there.  I mean it’s like writing “2 + 2 = 4” on the board and asking a student, “what is two plus two?”  But, not to the mind of the adolescent.  Many times as educators we forget it isn’t that easy.  Charts and graphs need to be explained thoroughly like any other lesson.  They need to be dissected and created by the students.  Spreadsheets help eliminate some of the issues with doing that.  A lot of students (I was one) are not extremely artistic.  And, if they are also perfectionists (like me), they can be frustrated when drawing charts and graphs.  They also are very time-consuming to make, not just for the students but, for the teacher.  Spreadsheets allow for almost anyone to make a high quality chart in a short period of time.

Spreadsheets, a tool many teachers might be familiar with for recording information about their students, might be more beneficial providing information for their students.  Here is a short list of other reasons to use spreadsheets in the mathematics classroom.

• Spreadsheets allow for easy data manipulation and the resulting effects to be quickly seen (Roblyer & Doering, 2013).

• They are very useful when dealing with perimeter, area and volume problems.

• Other formulas, such as temperature conversion, can be demonstrated.

• The concept of proportions is more readily understood.

• Data analyzing (mean, median, mode) isn’t restricted in sample size.

• Data collection isn’t limited to the size of the class.

• Patterns can be expanded to find the 50,000th term (or more).

As with any tool, students will need to learn how to use spreadsheets (Roblyer & Doering, 2013).  While you can use already created templates allow for students to enter in data and gather results, spreadsheets support a student-centered learning environment by allowing students to create their own manipulations.  Much like students can not be handed a calculator and expected to know the correct procedure for entering in data, they need to learn how to format functions.  For many students, there is an added barrier from a fear of mathematics that must first be overcome (Roblyer & Doering, 2013).  Remind them that although mistakes will be made, this give rise to the opportunity to problem solve.

While I have made it seem like spreadsheets are primarily a tool for the mathematics classroom because they are primarily used with numerical data, spreadsheets are effective in other content areas (Roblyer & Doering, 2013).  Instead of losing precious time doing all the math, spreadsheets can accomplish that task and allow for exploration of the lesson. Here are some non-math class uses of spreadsheets.

How old are you on Neptune?  I like that this one still refers to NINE planets (Go Pluto!)

It’s ‘Element’ary

Diversity

Climate Data Workbook

How Much Tax Would You Pay?

Reference

Roblyer, M. D., & Doering, A. H. (2013). Integrating educational technology into teaching (6th ed., New International ed.). Upper Saddle River: Pearson.

Relative Advantage of Presentations in the Classroom

For many years, I sat trying to keep myself awake during a PowerPoint presentation.  I would be popping Vivarin, chased with Jolt, while someone droned on reading words on a screen that I could read myself if there wasn’t so many that they had to use negative four font size to fit them all on the slide.  Then, after forty-five minutes of my life that I would never get back, I had to sit through a half an hour of questions that basically had all the same information provided again.  I didn’t know there was any other way.  Not until I started in this program.

In my Online Teaching class, I created this Google Presentation.  Still, too wordy, but at least there was some interaction to it to keep a student focused.  Then, in YouTube for the Educator, I created this video using PowerPoint.  Since it was a video, it wasn’t interactive (though, I later learned ways to create an interactive video if I want to re-worked this).  It did have a lot more graphics and animation to go with the narration.  Maybe it won’t win a “Tubie” (which is what they should call YouTube Video Awards, if they don’t), but it shows why such presentations can be a valuable asset to the classroom.

Presentation applications have many features that give them an advantage in the classroom.  They can be interactive.  They are accessible for viewing by students who missed the class or re-viewing by students who need to take a second look. Presentations permit a diverse media display:  Images, videos and links to additional resources. Questions can be included, both full-length quizzes and spot checks.  SlideRocket will allow you to add interactive elements to your presentation.

Not every presentation program has the same features.  Currently, there is no ability to add audio to Google.  Searching on the internet, I found that you can work around this somewhat by creating a video narration and embedding the video.  Shrink it real small to hide, or just enough to look like you are TV news anchor in a PIP (Picture-in-Picture) format.  Adding narration will save your voice and ensure that everyone viewing the presentation will get the same information, regardless of when they view it or how many times.  Eliminates the possibility of forgetting something in one of your presentations to one of your classes.

Now that you are aware of the fact that presentations don’t have to be like this, but can be like this, you are well on your way to earning a “Tubie.” (Come on, people.  We need to get a grassroots campaign started).  Or, at the very least, be a reason for Starbucks’ sales to drop on one day.

INSTRUCTIONAL SOFTWARE

Roblyer and Doering (2013) discuss six types of software in their book, Integrating Educational Technology Into Teaching.  These six are:

• Drill and Practice

• Tutorial

• Simulation

• Instructional Games

• Problem Solving

• Integrated Learning Systems

I discuss the first five here.  I would like to take time to discuss Integrated Learning Systems (ILS).  ILSs are network or online systems of computer-based instruction that both track and report on student progress (Roblyer and Doering, 2013).  In my current position at the Pittsburgh Job Corps, I have been asked to evaluate several ILS programs to use with our students who are preparing to take the GED 2014 Test.  The GED Testing Service has several partners, listed here.  So far, I have been in contact with three sites and received information on the services they provide.

• Edgenuity

• edmentum

• GED Academy

While the specific details of each ILS are different, with respect to their GED 2014 Test preparation, they have some common basic features.  ILS programs can easily be individualized for each students.  Generally, when a student begins an ILS course, they will take a diagnostic test that determines which specific areas require remediation.  As students progress, the programs will adapt the difficulty level up or down depending upon student performance.  Teachers will receive reports on student performance and can even be alert when a student needs intervention.

While it is generally recommend that ILS be a supplemental teaching method to an entire program in  order to be most effective (Roblyer and Doering, 2013), we would probably utilize them as the primary method.  Our students have already attended traditional schools and been unsuccessful.  However, this does not mean that lack the knowledge to pass the GED test.  Under the previous version of the GED Test, we had students who were capable of passing without any preparation, those who needed some preparation and students who required expansive tutoring.  With the change of the GED 2014 Test to a computer-only test, there will be fewer students in the first grouping and more in the other two.  These students’ ability will span a vast range.  Therefore, in order to keep them motivated, specialized training is needed to prevent from going too slow or too fast and move at just the right speed for each student.  Plus, by becoming more comfortable with learning on the computer, the students will be on familiar ground when they take the GED 2014 Test.

Does this mean that teachers become unnecessary?  Quite the contrary, I believe. Teachers will be more important.  Students will struggle with learning some concepts with the ILS just as they did in the traditional classroom.  Since the teacher will be aware more often and quicker of these deficiencies, they will have to be ready to interceded and help the students overcome obstacles.  They will have to be capable of switching gears and go from one lesson to another (possibly, in a completely different discipline) at a moments notice.

References

Baker, Mark. (1997). Integrated learning systems – An introduction. Retrieved from http://atschool.eduweb.co.uk/mbaker/material/ils.html

Roblyer, M. D., & Doering, A. H. (2013). Integrating educational technology into teaching (6th ed., New International ed.). Upper Saddle River: Pearson.

EDTECH 533 YouTube for the Educator

Here is a link to my YouTube Channel:

JoeBod’s EDTECH 533 YouTube Channel