Technology Lesson Reflection

            My technology lesson was designed to teach faculty members how to create presentations using an Apple IOS application called Nearpod. A previous video was created to provide an orientation and overview of the Nearpod application. This session is designed to give a step-by-step process for creating presentations and inserting Nearpod modules. In addition students will be broken into groups of three to participate in a collaborative exercise designed to reinforce the skills acquired during the lecture. Each group will choose a topic and create a simple presentation with a minimum of three information slides, one poll, one quiz, and at least one external web resource. They will then have opportunity to give a five-minute presentation of their material to the entire class.

The students will be assessed in three ways. First during the lecture portion of the lesson, they will participate in Nearpod polls and quizzes to assess for understanding. Second, their ability to create a presentation and use Nearpod as a presentation tool will be assessed via a rubric of their group presentation. Finally, an in-class observation will occur when the teacher uses Nearpod for the first time on live material with their own students. Feedback will be given to the teacher and a summary to the administration.

I was not able to present this lesson to my faculty as there was no Professional Development days scheduled for this time of year due to the holidays.  As a result, I had to test my lesson on family members, who are educators, over the holiday.  To set a foundation, I had each of the 6 family members watch the Nearpod orientation video that I created earlier this semester.  My intention is to present to my full faculty in January, 2014. 

Each family member was given an iPad and a brief primer on Nearpod.  All were familiar with iPad operations.  I started with a presentation that included a brief description and overview of each of the Nearpod modules (polls, quizzes, videos, web pages).  This was followed by a step by step presentation of the Nearpod Creation suite, a web based portal for creating Nearpod presentations.  We created a mock presentation about baking chocolate chip cookies, inserted two polls, and created a quiz.  We then went out and found a YouTube video about baking chocolate chip cookies and inserted it into the presentation.  Finally, we went out to Google and found a webpage all about baking and inserted the resource into the presentation.  I then loaded the new presentation into the Nearpod app and launched it and synced up all of the student iPads.  We were able to walk through the presentation together and experience how the information looked from the student perspective.

Once everyone was comfortable with the process and some questions were answered, we split them into two groups for the collaborative exercise.  The goal of the collaborative time was to reinforce the new knowledge by hands on practice.  Each group was tasked with choosing a topic and creating a simple presentation that included at least one poll, one quiz and one external web reference.  I gave the groups 30 minutes to create their presentations and provided a laptop computer for access to the Nearpod Creator site.  A few questions came up that I addressed but for the most part it went well.  Each group was then given five minutes to present their materials while the rest of us followed along, answered the poll and completed the quiz.  Each group was able to successfully create and present their materials.  I assessed the presentation with a rubric.ntation that included the modations.  I started with a presentation that included the moduleays scheduled for this time of ye

My lesson was designed to instruct teachers on the proper steps to create a Nearpod presentation. All teachers have previously viewed a Nearpod orientation digital video which provided no overview of the Apple IOS application and some examples of its use as a presentation media. This lesson was focused on the actual creation of presentations inside the Nearpod platform, starting with a lecture and presentation on the step-by-step creation process, followed by a collaborative exercise where teachers were broken into groups of three and instructed to pick a topic, create a Nearpod presentation with a minimum of three information slides, one poll, one quiz, and at least one external Web reference. The groups then had an opportunity to give a five-minute presentation back to the entire class to demonstrate their ability to use the Nearpod presentation they just created. The underlying assumptions were that a teacher already had a basic pedagogy and ability to create a lesson, and an understanding of how to use not only their iPad device, but a PC for the creation process.

There were many affordances available in this lesson. The visual presentation of materials, the presentation via the students iPads, the step-by-step explanation of the steps for creating content within Nearpod, and the collaborative exercises that were presented to the groups.

There were also some constraints present. The first constraint was obviously technology fear which keeps some faculty members from embracing the content. Next was general resistance to change, as most teachers are settled in their way and are not looking to change their pedagogy. The other constraint present was the lack of familiarity with their devices (iPads). Some students stumbled and got frustrated by simple navigation issues.

The lesson was designed to teach a new set of competencies to our teachers. Learning to use the Nearpod application as a presentation tool, and specifically, how to create presentations to show through Nearpod on the student iPads. The goal is for teachers to begin modifying their existing curriculum and existing presentations (typically PowerPoint presentations) into Nearpod presentations with the addition of Nearpod modules such as real-time polls, quizzes, videos, and searchable resources. While teachers have an understanding of iPad usage, and PC usage for creating curriculum, the Nearpod application is new knowledge.

There is a large disparity in technical ability among my faculty. There is also a great resistance to change. This is why I chose a collaborative exercise, which combines teachers of different learning levels into groups for hands on practice with this application. Supplementing the collaborative work with monitoring and scaffolding created a learning environment which accommodated all learners.

Technology is central to this lesson, as the lesson is primarily about a technical application. Our intention is to replace static PowerPoint presentations being used school-wide with Nearpod presentations that are not only more engaging for students, but provide real-time feedback and assessment for teachers of student understanding. Nearpod is a unique presentation medium that integrates real-time feedback modules within a curriculum presentation.

For the most part I was pleasantly surprised by the success of the lesson. I have been teaching about technology for two years and have found teachers mostly resistant and often frustrated by technology. On the whole, the students were excited about this application and its possibilities within the context of their classrooms.

I found most of the students worked well in the collaborative environment and those that struggled were helped by those who were stronger. All groups were able to prepare a short presentation, and all integrated the Nearpod modules successfully. Use of Nearpod on the iPads was straightforward and easily accommodated. There were some struggles in getting their contents into the Nearpod creation suite, but all groups were able to conquer this obstacle.

Technology Lesson Plan

Our task this week is to create a lesson plan that incorporates technology.  I choose to continue the theme I started with the digital story, the Nearpod app for the iPad. 

The digital story provided an overview and orientation to the capabilities of Nearpod.  In the face to face lesson, I want to explore the nuts and bolts, or as my faculty calls it, the how  of creating a Nearpod presentation. 

I am going to start the lesson by using Nearpod to show the step by step process for creating presentations and inserting Nearpod modules. 

Attached is my lesson proposed lesson plan.

Technology Lesson Plan

Digital Storytelling

Our current assignment in CEP800 is to explore Digital Storytelling and how the components of good story telling can be tailored to an educational experience.  Since my 'students' are the faculty at my school, I wanted to create a learning experience that would benefit them.  Instead of approaching an academic topic, I picked a new iPad application called Nearpod, that I wanted to introduce to the teachers.  I have actually modeled the application in a few of my Professional Development seminars to that the teachers can experience how the application and technology can be used to engage the student in the learning experience,. 

I knew that I wanted to provide an overview of the app and show the teacher how easy it was to convert an existing powerpoint presentation, which nearly all of my faculty use daily.  I also wanted to use the Digital medium to transport them and  to provide an emotional connection to the material.  I was happy with the way that the video turned out and though it was more instructional than 'story', I feel like it flowed well and draws the viewer into the content.  I am hopeful that my faculty will use the video as a primer to get started implementing the application.

I did draw some inferences to Vygotsky's work and discuss how prior knowledge of technology use affects the perspective of the learner. 

Take a look at the video (6 min) and please leave a comment about what you experience.

Teaching with Nearpod

Teaching for Student Understanding

The module we are working on in CEP-800 is intriguing because it really speaks the idea of just teaching factoids to help students prepare for high stakes testing.  Instead, we should be teaching for understanding.  We can determine understanding by giving students authentic ways of expressing their learning to insure that they understand the concepts and are  not just able to recite the facts without any real grasp of their real meaning or how to apply them.  There are some great ways to evaluate understanding.  Having students teach back the concept is one, either to the whole class or in small groups.  Another is to design a real world problem and allow the students to demonstrate their understanding by applying their knowledge in an authentic context.

We watched a video that was produced several years ago which was essentially post-graduation interviews with college graduates.  In these interviews, the graduates were asked a series of fundamental science questions from material that they should have learned first in primary school and then reinforced in high school, and for those whose majors were in the science fields, again at the collegiate level.  To the man, simple concepts, like what causes the seasons, were filled with misconceptions that were cemented into their brains early in their academic careers. 

Our lab for this assignment was to choose  a simple questions that addresses knowledge that should be gained in a educational career, and record interviews with our students to document their responses.  I choose to ask my students (faculty members at the K-12 school that I work for) to describe and explain the water cycle.  I picked three teachers with different ages, backgrounds and subject matter expertise.  I expected that the High School Science teacher would give the most succinct answer, but even the Third Grade teacher, who's curriculum doesn't cover the water cycle yet, answered with clarity and accurateness. 

Download and listen to the interviews here.

 

What I found interesting in these interviews, is that unlike the Harvard video, all of the teachers in my sample were able to recall the facts of and describe the water cycle accurately.  Of course, the Science teacher refreshes herself often as she teaches this concept to her students yearly, but even the English teacher and the Third Grade teacher were able to accurately recall the theory.

 

I think that this demonstrates that teaching is always the best way of cementing information and understanding. We should let our students teach more often as a demonstration of their understanding.

Summer almost over

Well, it has been a long summer!  I started the summer off in the hospital.  4 weeks of surgery and rehab then a slow recovery at home.  Just as I was getting back on my feet, we had to move to a new home.  This presented a number of challenges but we are in now and starting the long process of unpacking and figuring out where everything should go.  We have way to much stuff for two people!

I spent some time setting up my schedule for the Fall and am looking forward to getting back to school.

More to come!

Wicked Problem Implications

Overall, I was very happy with the results of my first formal attempt to address a technology issue with my diverse staff. The training went pretty much as planned, though the initial direct instruction portion went a little long as there were several questions that slowed things down.

The group collaboration went better than expected and 5 of 6 groups went above and beyond and presented the material in an interesting way, with several extra pieces of evidence including some great videos. All the groups were able to implement the added features of Nearpod (polls, Q&A, quizzes, Videos, Slideshows) and everyone seemed excited about the real time reporting of the assessments. The polls, in particular, were more useful than many of the other polling options because Nearpod requires the student to login to participate with the presentation, so the instructor not only has real time evidence of learning, but can see who, if any, is lagging behind or messing around.

The exit poll, (again, modelling a technology solution) let me know that most of the teachers were happy with what they learned and felt the hour's activities were valuable. I hear a lot that the teachers are tired of going to training to hear more of the what and want to learn more of the how. 80% indicated they would be trying Nearpod in their classrooms following the training. I will be following up with all the teachers to see how they do and providing the support they need.

I am glad that I sent out the email to remind teachers to bring their iPads to the training, but also to have them download the Nearpod app and install it before the training. It appeared that most followed that instruction and were ready to go when the training began. One piece I did not remember was to have them all bring earbuds or headsets so that the video I pushed to them as an example would not have been so distracting.

I will be approaching similar projects all year long. My job is to introduce technology into the lives of my teachers, helping them integrate it with their pedagogy and learning to become comfortable with it so they can engage students in authentic learning. I will have the same faculty of 30 who range from first year teachers to those with nearly four decades of experience. My veteran teachers, for the most part, are the ones most resistant to technology. My approach for the next PD is to try the flipped format. I will give the teachers two weeks before the training to go through the video presentation on their own, at their own pace. I will then facilitate a face to face session that will have more collaboration and problem solving. I think that embracing the active learner model will be most effective with my staff.

I will continue to use Nearpod and will push it as a standard app for my staff starting in the Fall. I believe this is the most effective presentation app I have come across so far this year and the real time assessments really make it a dynamite solution. I have browsed through the Nearpod library and have found 2-3 presentations for each of the subject areas. This way, as I meet with these teachers individually, I can share some pre-designed presentations to give them a starting point.

The last point I would like to make about the Wicked Problem is that I enjoyed doing the Pod casts and as a result will be starting a Podcast broadcast on my website covering Ed Tech tips and solutions.  You can find them on my website at www.EdTechQuickTips.org.

The Wicked Problem project was a valuable experience because it provides a framework for approaching the wicked problems in our lives and classrooms.  To take a problem that seems unsolvable, define it, create a plan, implement the plan and then reflect on the plan really takes the wicked out of the problem and makes it solvable.  There will always be roadblocks and speed bumps, but if you keep driving forward, you can find a solution to any problem that comes along!  I think the part that I enjoyed most, and probably have done the least in my past, is to take the time to reflect on the plan and implementation and make course corrections based upon my reflections.  I guess at some level I do this instinctively, but have not taken the time to formally write down my reflections and act upon them.  

I think that the other important piece is to seek collaboration for your problem.  Get some other eyes on your defined problem, have them review your implementation plan and then have them comment on your successes and your reflection.  Having a voice beside your own will strengthen and encourage you to keep tackling these problems that are sometimes easier to ignore.  Good luck!

Professonal Learning Plan

 Last year, January of 2012, I began on a new educational and professional journey.

I had been involved in technology for three decades and during that time, I had also had several opportunities to instruct and facilitate adults in different subjects, from teaching new recruits how to organize a business, create and implement a marketing plan and run a successful company, to training someone to save a life in an emergency. I very much enjoyed teaching and facilitating learning.

So, after thirty years doing telecom and IT work, I decided to switch gears and focus my technology knowledge and experience into the education field. I researched the options and settled on Educational Technology as my focus, and Michigan State University became my new home. I began an Ed Tech consulting company and enrolled in the MAET program. The more I researched and learned, the more sure I was about the path that I had chosen.

This would be my last career change and I was excited about the chance to inspire and motivate classroom teachers to integrate technology into their existing pedagogy... not just so they would be more competent and relevant teachers, but that kids might be inspired, get excited and engage with learning. I wanted to have a small part in creating lifelong learners.

My goals from the start were to complete the MAET program over the course of two years, and in that time, find a position at a local school. I approached the Asst. Superintendent at my wife’s school and we set out a plan for me to work with the Middle School and High School teachers. I started in August 2012 as an outside Ed Tech consultant with a plan for a part-time position next year and a full-time position as Director of Ed Tech when I get my MAET degree. The school is in the first year of our 1:1 iPad integration so my progression will somewhat mirror the rollout. Juniors and Seniors this year, the rest of the high school next and the middle school the following year. When I finish the MAET program, we will have nearly 400 students with iPads and a K-5 program that is clamoring for them. There will certainly be many opportunities to influence and guide teachers into the use of technology.

 

 

After taking the first three courses in the MAET series, I have developed a new passion. I am

convinced that ePortfolios are an essential part of integrating technology. We must give our students a place to showcase their work and a place to reflect upon their learning. We are asking our students to create digital artifacts, yet we have no place for them to go. Our teachers are bogged down with traditional paper grading and see ePortfolios as an added burden instead of a time saving tool and a way to assess quickly where a student is instead of waiting for the high stakes test to determine it for us.

Another passion that is growing strong again for me is being a lifelong learner myself. I have always considered myself a lifelong learner as this was a character trait that was taught to me by my Dad and some of my favorite mentors. Even in my other technology business, I lost count of the number of certifications and licenses that I have obtained. Yet somehow, I hunger for more. Even though I started the MAET program thinking it would be my final formal journey into education, I now think it is but a stepping stone. I do not know what lies ahead, but I know that my thirst for education has not been quenched yet. The more I learn about pedagogy and technology, the more I want to know. 

The TPACK framework, in particular, is causing me to research more and dig for those nuggets of truth that are so abundant in the world of educators. The Personal Learning Networks I have joined are constantly adding to my knowledge base and my bag of tricks. I do not know if my next step is to pursue another discipline within the Education world, or maybe go on for my Doctorate. I do know, however, that I have found a new home. Go Spartans!

Addendum:  After reading through a few of my classmates blogs, I remembered that I did not address one other opportunity that I am pursuing.  I joined ISTE last year and atteneded their conference in San Diego last summer.  I had to squeeze it in and really only got a couple of days out of the 5... but I was hooked.  This is a gold mine of educational treasure.  I signed my wife and myself up for the 2013 conference in San Antonio and was part of the team that read seminar proposals for the Technology sessions.  My plan was to understand how to write a good session proposal and what was good subject matter. My Goal is to be a presenter at the 2014 conference.  Another way to push myself forward.