Toy design student sample collaboration

I collaborated with my student teacher, Julia Bemis, and our Early Childhood Education teacher Lelani Gordon.
My original collaboration colleague was John MacDonald, but this year due to time constraints and class schedule I implemented the unit in a semester physics class instead of an integrated academic/CTE engineering design class.

I was very thankful of the flexibility and enthusiasm of Lelani Gordon. She was extremely welcoming and supportive of the collaborative effort between my physics students and her early childhood high school and preschool students. Our high school students met twice. The first time the physics students interviewed Lelani's students to generate some criteria and constraints. On the second meeting, the preschoolers actually tested the toy designs and provided feedback to my physics students. Julia Bemis, my student teacher, helped implement the unit and evaluate the projects. This authentic design project would not have been a success without collaborative efforts of Lelani and Julia. Thank you guys!

My Brain...

Right Brain/ Left Brain Quiz The higher of these two numbers below indicates which side of your brain has dominance in your life. Realising your right brain/left brain tendancy will help you interact with and to understand others. Left Brain Dominance: (7) Right Brain Dominance: (13) Right Brain/ Left Brain Quiz

Stage 3 Collaboration

When John MacDonald and I sat down to discuss our integrated classwork we began by sharing our personal opinions, thoughts and visions. We sketched out different outlines and diagrams as we discussed to visually chart our brainstorming and how our ideas for the unit could dovetail. As previously mentioned in the other collaboration post we are both very open in our communication, transparent in our interaction and mutually respect each others teaching styles and passions. Working from such a foundation allows us to take risks together.

The Stage 3 template was more detailed than my colleague would generally expect when planning out instruction. He is more inclined to use a "lead sheet" approach to unit plans. After identifying the big ideas and interim tasks, he gives the students short bits of direct instruction between divergent exercises, projects and quizzes and then work on a final performance task.

John is an incredible collaborator. He spends many hours coordinating with outside experts and planning authentic experiences for his students in and outside of the laboratory. It is quite amazing to watch how he can inspire and engage students with the environment he creates.

The stage 3 template inherently included some aspects of John's technology standards because of the technological design standards from the Science MLRs. He recognized how many of the WHERETO facet experiences were similar to what he has used in his previous technology classes and that the sequence was reasonable. We did discuss leveraging the expertise of the art teachers who work in close proximity for the sketching portions of the facets. This additional potential collaboration could prove fruitful.

I know John and I will continue to discuss and implement the unit and I anticipate some more collaboration with Julia Bemis, a student teacher, and the art department next year.

Ch 12 TPACK In-Service Education

Judith B. Harris helped infuse content and pedagogy back into traditionally “technocentric” (Papert, 1987 as quoted by Harris, Mishra and Koehler in this publication) K-12 technology integrations and reforms with her thoughtful use of activity types. I admire any flexible framework that can assist me in planning learning experiences that are varied, effective, appropriate and useful. These flexible design scaffolds are very helpful as an in-service teacher that prefers an andragogical approach that recognizes me as a " goal-oriented, purposeful organism" (pg. 267). I can use the activity types in "authentic [teacher] tasks" in my classroom which maximizes the utility of technology integration when developing my own TPACK.

The discussions by Harris made me reflect upon our school technology integration efforts. I was able to identify "efficiency aids" (reporting, attendance and evaluation systems) and "extension devices" (drill and kill sites and software) and how they differ from more "transformative" (wikis, blogs, rich student authoring tools, and other communication technologies that are beginning to support inquiry, collaboration and reconfigure student-teacher and student-student relationships) which our faculty is beginning to explore.

Harris' definition of technology integration is clear and purposeful.

The pervasive and productive use of educational technologies for purposes of curriculum-based learning and teaching.

I will use this definition when supporting technology integration efforts in my classroom and school.

Ch 11 Guiding preservice teachers in TPACK

I learned more about the four dimensions of knowledge in this chapter : Declarative, Procedural, Schematic and Strategic. On page 224, the work of Shavelson, Ruiz-Primo, Li, and Ayalas (2003) with these four dimensions helped me to think more strategically when planning, organizing, critiquing and abstracting specific content, student needs and classroom situations within the TPCK framework.

I envision the creation of a math toolbox for Physics students. Math is an area where many students struggle in physics. Having a resource using the dimensions of knowledge as an organizing schema would be helpful for students to know how (procedural) to use what (declarative) math concepts when (strategic) and why (schematic) they are using them.

The discussion about preparing tomorrow's teachers to rethink, unlearn and relearn, change, revise and adapt reminded me of discussions in Daniel Pink's book A Whole New Mind that recognize the fostering and use of "right-brained" qualities like inventiveness, empathy, meaning in future.

And as a person who values good educational quotes, (get a daily one at http://www.lightafire.net/) I found this chapter's quotes excellent - real t-shirt material!

Ch 10 TPACK in Physical Education

The opportunity for valuable technology integration in physical education is extensive.

Luke Kelly's Chapter 10 points out several areas that technology integration could prove beneficial.

First, it can be motivating for students to use technology that gives them useful and timely feedback about a physical fitness component or skill. This could be a heart monitor to measure their cardiorespiratory endurance or a video of an expert performing a technique that they can compare to a video of themselves doing the same technique.

Individual monitors are expensive and may not be realistic for most large schools to invest in to have students individually measure their performance. I would anticipate smaller cheaper monitors that integrated with cell phones or Radio Frequency Identification tags (RFID) found currently in books, clothing and even used by organizers of large marathons to become useful in a gym class environment.

If the RFID tags or monitors powered by personal electronic devices could integrate with the schools wireless network it could assist a gym teacher in evaluating the performance, effort and fitness trends of many students over time. This data management assistance for teachers of physical education is another area Kelly mentioned as a valuable benefit of technology integration.

Some resources cited by Kelly:

http://pesoftware.com/: a provider of software, online courses and consulting services
http://www.pelinks4u.org/: a compilation of many resources for the PE teacher, not all links are up to date but there are many extensive lists.
http://pecentral.org/: A bit more cluttered with ads than the first two but I did find a link to a RFID lap counter system on the internal site search function.

There are many opportunities for technology to enhance physical education in high schools.

TPACK Ch 5 World Language

Marcela Van Olphen outlines how several educational theories of second language acquisition (SLA) that are driving change in how language is taught and learned in a more critical socio-constructivist approach. She weaves the application of theories with successful learning approaches and research on pupil cognition.

After first outlining the American Council of Teachers of Foreign Language (ACTFL),Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) and National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) standards she attempts to "advance the current understanding of the kinds of knowledge world language teachers need to have to integrate technology in thoughtful and meaningful ways."

I was particularly intrigued by the distinction between competence and performance that she shares from Chomsky (1965). He says competence refers to the knowledge of how linguistic system works or what one knows about a language. Performance refers to what someone can do with a language. This is an important distinction that can be generalized to any content area. In the sciences there is a strong focus on competence. Performance assessments are harder to implement than competence assessments. This could be one reason why there is less focus on performance assessments.

Olphen expands on many theories of SLA before highlighting the the impacts of Computer Assisted Language Learning (CALL). At the end of the discussion, she shares the main reason for unsound and incompetent technology integration per the "Technology Counts '99: Building the Digital Curriculum" report. The reason is shortage of training and that social and academic factors contributed to teacher insecurity about technology. In schools with scarce resources I find lack of professional trainers and lack of time at the beginning of the school year to front load technology training and time for teachers to plan the use of technology a hindrance.

So, in order for sound, meaningful technology integration Olphen proposes that teachers have an understanding of TPCK they can purposefully enhance SLA with technology. When a teacher understands TPCK, technology stops being an object or an ornament in a lesson plan. I agree with Olphen. As comfort levels regarding technology rise it becomes a flexible and powerful tool for the teacher and student to help increase student competence and performance.

TPACK Ch 7 TPACK in Mathematics in Education

I found Neal Grandgenett's chapter much more readable than previous chapters. His use of Albert Einsteins quotes throughout were potentially a bit cliche but he pulled it off by elaborating on them and using more extended versions instead of t-shirt and poster sound-bites. I would like to read the Primer and Phillips book, Everything Einstein, 2003.

Technology integration questions are brought up throughout the chapter with the classic math calculator question as a springboard - When should students use a calculator when learning math? I believe this question can now be extended beyond calculators a more philosophical one about any technology that humans rely on for information, computation or decision guiding processes. What knowledge should reside in our biological brains compared to our silicon-based assistants (cell phones, computers, online accounts...)?

In Neal's discussion of what the study of mathematics really is, he notes how the "human" or creative element gives interest and beauty to the subject and how not considering the human element can reduce the spirit and depth of the subject.

Here is a distillation of the Qualities of a Math teacher with TPCK from Chapter 7:

They are:

• relative openness to experimentation
• will "try" technology based lessons on a regular and spontaneous basis with their students
• strive to be consistently "on-task" for the mathematical topic
• know "where" their students are conceptually, "what" they need to achieve the next step
• characteristically embrace the administrative capabilities of technology
  
• do their best to be caring teachers who are comfortable and optimistic for change

I found this chapter the most readable to date. It was full of rich examples and excellent suggestions for teachers of any subject

TPACK Ch4 E-TPACK

Hughes and Scharber's title is pedantic. The word deictic causes me cognitive dissonance; a condition that is encouraged throughout chapter 4 to foster more knowledge development in in-service teachers. Besides the pedantic title, I found Hughes' previous research promotion and E-TPCK claim staking in the second paragraph rather donnish.

Beyond the awkward first impression, this chapter was well organized, had insightful case studies and reinforced the UMF Masters Program organizational philosophy that [technology] integration "can not be accomplished through isolated technology experiences or without ongoing discussion, modeling and evaluation" (Bowman, 2000).

The authors acknowledge that E-TPCK and TPCK in are temporary concepts and it is important to currently differentiate between TK and PCK until technology integration becomes more culturalized in schools. The Ed-U-Tech program at the University of Minnesota that was initially supported by the now archived Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to Use Technology (PT3) initiative has a similar structure to our graduate courses. I liked that the co-inqury, multi-genre writing project assigned only 2 to 4 middle school student to each pre-service teacher and that a hybrid form of face time and Internet and Communication Technology (ICT) were used to facilitate the project.

The case studies highlighted differences in technology integration. Contrasting Laura's case with Nell's case was particularly interesting. Laura' s use of general technology resources to support her teaching as opposed to Nell's richer integration experience that was grounded in her English content and pedagogy knowledge really highlighted differences in technology integration quality. Nell's playful, informal learning of different technologies really supported her integration efforts. I believe all teacher's, when motivated to use technology, need time to play with the ICT themselves in order to be comfortable enough to use it in the classroom.

TPACK Ch3 K-6 Literacy

Schmidt and Gurbo begin with paraphrasing Moat's work that identifies teaching students to read as a fundamental responsibility with which 20 percent of students encounter difficulties. This responsibility can be accomplished by 95 percent of students (Fletcher & Lyon, 1998). After some general literacy comments, essential TPC knowledge for K-6 literacy is discussed and then ways for teachers to learn specific knowledge related to TPC and literacy are shared.

Schmidt and Gurbo consider literacy a complex and "moving target" (Kinzer & Leander, 2003) that needs to recognize new forms of literacy (informational, computer, film and video...) that incorporate ICT (information and communication technologies). I found Kinzer & Leander's quote about changing comprehension and decoding processes as the medium of the message changes to be surprising. I had expected that comprehension and decoding processes may be constant and general enough to be applied to all media forms.

Essential literacy content knowledge was grouped by:

• language structure
• vocabulary
• comprension
  
• fluency
• an comprehension

which align with the IRA's (International Reading Association) first standard.

Using literature circles or reader's/writer' workshops where exploratory talks, literature logs and self-paced reading could be incorporated would create effective collaborative and social experiences for becoming literate. It was noted that the use of technology at the elementary level often does not incorporate the whole writing process. Students may use it more for publishing finished work only. Although later in the chapter, several open, type II productivity and creative technology tools that could be used for different parts of the writing process were introduced. For instance, the software from Inspiration Software Inc., Kidspiration, Inspiration could be used in different parts of the writing process. They are great for concept mapping, brainstorming and facilitating concept sortign and organization in a non-linear way.

I am interested in investigating the hand held software like GoKnow, assistive technologies like the Reading Pen, Some of the incredible software from Crick Software like WriteOnline and Clicker 5 (I want to use some of these with my own children!) , other more developmentally appropriate productivity software for younger kids like Storybook Weaver Deluxe, Kid Pix and eZedia, and web resources like ReadWriteThink, atozteacherstuff, thinkport.org and webquest.org.

Challenging essay prompt - CLCE

I would like to see how my students would respond to such an essay prompt from the Children Leading Change in Education Facebook group:

IF A MIRACLE WERE TO HAPPEN...

If the school system as you know it (including teachers as 'experts', the National Curriculum, compulsory subjects, timetabled lessons, tests, grades, levels, homework, detentions and school uniform) D I S A P P E A R E D in a cloud of smoke and you woke up tomorrow morning to find an entirely NEW system of education in place...

WHAT WOULD YOU WANT THE NEW SYSTEM TO LOOK, SOUND AND FEEL LIKE?

The Utube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tahTKdEUAPk

and 50 questions from teachers who watched the video from Kevin W. Rileys Blog.

Obama recognizes Mass has clear Standards

I was surprised that President Obama recognized the clarity of the Massachusetts standards in his blog on March 10th. I agree with him, - as noted in the previous collaboration post.

President Obama said:

"We will end what has become a race to the bottom in our schools and instead, spur a race to the top by encouraging better standards and assessments. This is an area where we are being outpaced by other nations. It’s not that their kids are any smarter than ours – it’s that they are being smarter about how to educate their kids. They are spending less time teaching things that don’t matter, and more time teaching things that do. They are preparing their students not only for high school or college, but for a career. We are not. Our curriculum for eighth graders is two full years behind top performing countries. That is a prescription for economic decline. I refuse to accept that America’s children cannot rise to this challenge. They can, they must, and they will meet higher standards in our time. 


Let’s challenge our states to adopt world-class standards that will bring our curriculums into the 21st century.

The solution to low test scores is not lower standards – it’s tougher, clearer standards. Standards like those in Massachusetts, where 8th graders are now tying for first – first – in the world in science.

And I am calling on our nation’s Governors and state education chiefs to develop standards and assessments that don’t simply measure whether students can fill in a bubble on a test, but whether they possess 21st century skills like problem-solving and critical thinking, entrepreneurship and creativity."

--March 10, 2009

Stage 1 colleague support and communicaiton

When working with my colleague, John MacDonald, there is a important foundation of mutual respect and openness in our conversations. In order to collaborate, it has been beneficial for us to be flexible with our personal teaching styles and expectations. When describing Stage 1, I considered John's teaching experience and perspective when describing it to him.

Specific standards for vocational programs are in flux. Over the past few years vocational schools have been working on cross-walking what they do with academic standards from the MLR, but more recently they are focusing on national and technical certification standards as guidelines for their programs. We looked at the MLRs for the 9-12th grade Science and Technology B2:Technological Design process standards and compared them to Massachusetts' Science and Technology/Engineering Curriculum Frameworks. The big ideas are essentially the same as the MLRs but the Massachusetts' Frameworks are clearer and more comprehensive with regard to engineering and technology standards.

John recommended we consider having students start with some seed money or materials and upon a the presentation of their conceptual design they could be granted additional resources for building the prototype.

TPACK Ch6 Toward Democracy

John K. Lee describes his content area as complicated and lacking lacking clear academic and disciplinary structure. The subject matter comes from history, geography, political science, economics, behavioral sciences, cultural studies and other content areas.

I found it interesting how the author referenced Schwab's 1964 work that considered structures in academic disciplines as enablers of new knowledge contributions by scholars. Schwab also attributes those structures to being able to verify the legitimacy of the new knowledge. Is the author saying that new knowledge in social studies can not be contributed or verified? I do not think so. I believe he is just trying to set up a social studies framework as one that grows not from the traditional ill-defined subject of social studies but from Thorton's (2001) idea of selecting, adapting and transforming disciplinary content for teaching.

In the authors second of six technological pedagogical actions he describes how to facilitate students' work in non-linear environments where students select from many resources and navigate many interfaces. My colleagues and I have been experiencing this in our graduate class. Dr. Grace has been teaching us how to use many tools and resources in a non-linear environment. I like to learn in this kind of environment. I find non-linear class environments similar to how Landlow (1992) describes hypertext. It is empowering and gives the reader (or student) the freedom to navigate various nodes according to their needs. And navigating non-linear web resources is an active process that I find engaging.

Finally, I see incredible opportunities for using technological pedagogy in social studies with online survey and poll tools to make civic decisions. We have been using online surveys with our staff and students to help guide decisions about the day to day environment at our school. Surveys that fully disclose the results to all participants are great springboards for discussion and allow more people to contribute meaningfully to important issues. Our active survey includes issues about teen pregnancy, school health clinics, birth control distribution, student academic apathy and student run winter carnival events. Online survey tools really can help facilitate active and authentic interactions. I would like to use the online survey tools for our spring student council elections.

TPACK Ch8 Art in Education

Nancy DePlatchett makes a case for arts education by how each of the nine listed learning skills for the 21st century can be enhanced by arts education and how arts education is very consistent with the learning theory in How People Learn (2000) by Brown, Cocking, and Bransford. I was inspired by how creating original artwork, students are self-directed and engaged in a self-discovery process that develops their flexibility and adaptability. I would like to emulate this same art-making process in the science classroom by having students involved in more inquiry-based projects and activities that they initiate out of their own curiosity.
I would like to post the nine listed skills:

• information and media literacy
• communication skills
• critical thinking and systems thinking
  
• problem identification, formulation, and solution
• creativity and intellectual curiosity
• interpersonal and collaborative skills
• self-direction
• accountability and adaptability
• social responsibility

on my classroom wall and wiki. They are very relevant to the real world and would be helpful if they were more visible to the students and teacher each day.

She then highlights an extensive list of internet resources for integrating technology in the visual, music, dance, drama, and media production areas of arts education.

Some of the Visual art's resources like Crayola' site and Sanford's marker and pen website have some interactive primary art resources. I tried the drawing web app on Crayola's site. It provided many options of color and pen sizes for each of Crayola's products. The Sanford site has a memorable character named Carmen that hosts some interactive lessons on art content.

But, I think if kids are going to be subjected to subtle marketing they may enjoy Blue Man group's make your own art site more because of the creative mediums (Twinkies, Jello, confetti, Cap't Crunch..), animation and ability to share their work with friends. It is definitely worth a look!

She concludes with how arts education can be enhanced with technology and advocates for educational models that integrate arts and technology into the core curriculum. I could envision an art-based or bricolage model (note 8 in TPACK Chapter 1) in my science classroom. I think that "playing" or "tinkering" with readily available tools, materials and instruments is an powerful, engaging and effective way to learn that is under-valued in science classrooms. I would seriously consider some form of this model to be used in conjunction with the engineering design and scientific processes.

TPACK Ch9 Science Content Team

Here are 3 rich science links by level to check out:

Elementary
The BBC's Bite Sized Science Clips are excellent. My 5 year old son enjoys using these engaging activities. They are organized by content and level. Some of the text for the lower grade level is automatically read. At higher levels, there is an option to have the text instruction read.

Middle School
Marc Prensky considers programming to be the new literacy, Programming: The New Literacy,Edutopia, Feb 2008. Scratch is a new programming language from MIT. It is designed to be an easy way for people to create their own interactive stories, animations, games, music, and art on the web and easily share their work. It can help students apply mathematical and computational skills while learning to think creatively, reason logically, and work collaboratively. I highly recommend incorporating Scratch into class projects or as a summative assessment.

Highschool
The National Center for Case Study Teaching in Science is an incredible resource from the University at Buffalo for science teachers who aspire to incorporate a case-based method of instruction in their class. The site's introduction is brief and compelling: "Although the case method has been used for years to teach law, business, and medicine, it is not common in science. Yet the use of case studies holds great promise as a pedagogical technique for teaching science, particularly to undergraduates, because it humanizes science and well illustrates scientific methodology and values. It develops students’ skills in group learning, speaking, and critical thinking, and since many of the best cases are based on contemporary—and often contentious—science problems that students encounter in the news (such as human cloning), the use of cases in the classroom makes science relevant."

TPACK Ch9 Science, Technology and Teaching

Raven McCrory first discusses the relationship between technology and science. Then he describes where to use technology in the curriculum, what technology to use and how to use it. He finishes the chapter with discussion about how a teacher's knowledge of subject matter, students, pedagogy and technology help answer the previous where, what and how questions.

Where to use technology in the curriculum:

1) Areas of the curriculum that are hard to teach
2) Areas that technology is an essential element of the science being taught.

What technologies are classified into 3 categories:

1) Unrelated directly to science but used to support science-
EX: spreadsheets, word processing, graphic software

2) Designed for teaching and learning science-
EX: Model-it, Virtual Frog, Cooties, BIOKids, and WISE
I especially value the interactive science simulations at PHET.
There are many research-based sims with a searchable data-base of teacher created lesson plans. I find this technology most useful at helping students grasp abstract concepts like the nature of fields and electromagnetic waves, to differentiate between the velocity and acceleration of an object and especially electricity and magnetism concepts.

3) Technology designed to do science-
EX: Microscopes, Telescopes, Measuring Probes, Scientific calculators

Tips on How technologies are used:
- Teach students how to first use the system or tools
- Give them time to "play" with the system or tools
- Identify possible failure points and make alternate plans in case of breakdowns
- Plan a specific activity
- Consider environmental conditions like the amount of student talk allowed during the activity
- Plan for assessment of what students learned and the efficacy of the activity.

I believe having time to "play" with a technology system or tool is an important step in an effective implementation. During "play time" formative assessment can take place and troubleshooting can occur. Students are able to orient themselves and the teacher has time for some 1 on 1 troubleshooting to bring students up to speed.

TYPE II Technology

In Type II Uses of Technology in Education, Cleborne D. Maddux and Dee LaMont Johnson describe Type II applications as making new and better ways of teaching available - ways of teaching that would not be available without information technology. This concept is not new. It originated it the late 70's and early 80's. Although an oversimplification, Type I and Type II technologies can be further clarified as not "good" and "bad" but instead "simple" and "complex".

TPACK CH2 reflection

Reading Chapter 2 has made me aware of the more subtle digital divides. I see the additional divides in public school and am encouraged by reading this chapter not to reinforce them. Access to hardware, software and internet access has always been the only digital divide I have been aware of in the past. Access to quality technology mediated instruction is an important issue. We struggle with this at Mt. Blue HS. I think it to have quality TMI there needs to be regular professional technology training for teachers and students. The technology committee at our school has worked hard at providign teacher training several times a year during early release days but I do not think it is enough. We are finding the gap between teachers use of technology widening. There is a need for basic computer training and advanced training.

Too often I have observed computers used to satiate students in study halls instead of being used as tools to communicate, inquire construct and organize knowledge. I do not use them as much as I would like to in class because of our non- 1:1 environment and network stability issues. If each student had a laptop and broadband access at home I would feel more comfortable spending more time building organized online learning environments and resources fpr my classes. I would like to use a wiki in all of my Physics classes. And I think that giving all my students a more challenging lab environment will increase their engagement and understanding.

TPACK Ch1 reflection

Teaching is an ill structured and complex domain. Being able to shift from the stable and transparent traditional pedagogical technologies to protean, unstable and opaque technologies will help prepare students for applying their designed knowledge to the real world. By being able to deal with ambiguity, frustration and change in the classroom, teachers will help model for their students how to navigate in the real world. I am interested in exploring how to help students be successful in ambiguous more real-world environments. They are too comfortable in static black and white environments. I have been trying to assign more design your own labs for my students in college prep Physics classes. Assigning such labs really challenge my student to organize their investigations and understand the essential concepts.

As a teacher that is continuously working at improving a new Engineering Design course last semester, I love the perspective of "knowledge as design" and "wicked problems". How do I help students accept and work with these paradigms? How do teachers help students be comfortable creating satisificing solutions to wicked problems? And are satisificing solutions acceptable when building a bridge? Is there levels or graduations of satisficing solutions to be used in different contexts?

Creative repurposing is critical to teaching in a low income district and for overcoming the "Functional Fixedness" discussed in Chapter 1. A colleague's students used wikispaces to create quizzes in an English class. The students were wonderfully creative in this exercise.Their quizzes were full of personality. The personality in the quizzes made the formative assessment engaging to peers. There is a whole community of creative repurposing emerging and supported by web 2.0 technologies for personal projects at www.instructables.com. I would like to have student's post their design projects to this kind of forum to receive feedback and document their work.

Zotero

Used it in EDU 582. Useful. A bit buggy. It will come in handy and probably be more a more stable and mature plug-in by 2010-2011.