LTT+Fall+2009

 __** MY LEARNING EXPERIENCE! **__ __ LEARNING STATEMENTS __


 * 1.) WHAT AM I LEARNING ABOUT TECHNOLOGY? **

** I AM LEARNING ABOUT COLLABORATIVE TECHNOLOGY AND TECHNOLOGY IN GENERAL TO SUPPORT CONSTRUCTIVIST LEARNING IN MY CLASSROOM AND FURTHER MY DESIRE TO BECOME A COMPETENT DIGITAL USER. **

__**SHAREPOINT**__

During this term I have learned about a number of different collaborative technologies that support constructivist learning in my classroom. The technology that has had the most impact on me is SharePoint. I chose to investigate SharePoint as part of my field study. My inquiry involved studying whether a classroom SharePoint site would increase student engagement outside of the classroom. Much of my learning this semester has involved learning about SharePoint as I was undergoing my field study. When I chose this topic in the summer I did not have a SharePoint site and was very unfamiliar with it. My only previous experience with SharePoint was related to CADS and my school website. I did much of my learning on the fly and added to my website whenever I learned how to do something new. When I started with my field study I really didn't know a lot about how to use SharePoint in general let alone as a collaborative tool. As seen from an early screenshot of my field study homepage, I was not able to included much of anything and my homepage was unappealing and not user-friendly. The only features I included were the announcements, calendar, and a few links. By the end of my field study, I had become quite proficient in my knowledge of SharePoint and the possibilities of using this as a collaborative tool in my class. I learned, through trial and error and by asking colleagues, about embedding pictures and videos, uploading documents, changing the layout of the site, permissions, discussions, hand-in boxes, and the effectiveness of using SharePoint as a classroom tool. This learning is very important to me as I believe in a constructivist model of teaching and am always looking at ways to get my students more engaged in the class. This learning is particularly significant to the students I teach because they ultimately learn more from each other than from the teacher. A classroom site such as this gives students a formal venue where they can collaborate through discussions and document sharing, and increase their engagement and understanding as they learn from each other.

[|My IB History Page]


 * __October 7th__**




 * __November 24th__**





__**JING**__

I have also spent some time learning about JING as a collaborative tool. I created a JING video for my October Virtual Assignment and have also made a JING video to use with my Grade 11 Social Studies class. I used these to demonstrate various aspects of my site including a collaborative lesson which I will incorporate into my grade 11 class. I have not used JING before and although it was not overly difficult to learn, this learning is significant for collaborative learning as students can view these videos from anywhere and at anytime which keeps them connected to what is going on in the classroom. Reasons for implementing JING into my classroom include that it addresses different learning styles, incorporates multiple intelligences, and connects students to their learning and their classmates. I can potentially see my students themselves using JING as part of multi-media presentations on various different topics in order to teach each other. By introducing them to new technologies, I am also fostering critical thinking and media literacy, which are essential for students in the online environment. [|Supreme Court JING] [|SharePoint JING]

**__CONNECTION TO PROGRAM CAPACITIES__**

I believe that learning about collaborative technology connects to three of the LTT program capacities. By learning about many different new technologies I am using and integrating existing and emerging technologies into my practice. As I use programs such as SharePoint and JING, I will always evaluate how and if they have changed my practice for better or worse, and adjust accordingly. I have found advantages and disadvantages of using SharePoint I must continue to evaluate how I will use this in my classroom. I don't want to integrate this technology just because I can if it is not going to improve the classroom experience for my students and I. In order to effectively integrate technology into my practice, I will continue to examine how I teach and how using Web 2.0 collaborative tools can maximize the potential of the digital learner.

As a user of technology, I can also help develop learning communities to support my teaching practice. I can introduce the technologies I learn about to my colleagues (especially in my capacity as department head of Social Studies) and encourage them to use technology in their classroom. I have already shown some colleagues my SharePoint site and discussed the possibility of doing this with their classes as well. After completing my field study in particular I feel confident that I would be able to assist other colleagues who use or are thinking about using SharePoint as a collaborative tool. As more and more of my colleagues begin using this technology, a community of practice will develop where all users of technology become competent and willing to help each other with current and emerging technologies.

With the amount of new media available, I will be an active participant in new media interactions in education. I think the process of new media technologies changing education is inevitable, and as a user of technology my classroom will be at the forefront. With new media technology I can provide opportunities for interactive communication and collaboration and put the students in charge of much of their learning. With online collaboration expanding and information on every subject imaginable available instantaneously I have seen my role as an educator evolve into more of a facilitator of knowledge rather than a distributor of knowledge. It is becoming more important in today's digital society to guide students through the information and help them make connections than to give them the information. We know that technology has both a positive and negative impact on education and society in general, therefore educating my students about media literacy is becoming increasingly important in my classroom.

**2.) WHAT AM I LEARNING ABOUT THE TEACHING AND LEARNING PROCESS?**


 * I AM LEARNING TO EXPLORE AND CONSIDER HOW COLLABORATIVE TECHNOLOGY CAN SERVE THE LEARNING NEEDS OF MY STUDENTS AND MY GOALS AS A TEACHER. **

__**SOURCES REFERENCED**__ Krentler, Kathleen and Laura Willis-Flurry. “Does Technology Enhance Actual Student Learning? The Case of Online Discussion Boards.” __Journal of Education for Business__ v80 n6 Jul-Aug 2005. P316

Ng’ambi, Dick and Irwin Brown. “Intended and Unintended Consequences of Student Use of an Online Questioning Environment.” __British Journal of Educational Technology__ v40 n2 Mar. 2009. P316-328

Xie, Kui, Teresa Debacker and Catherine Ferguson. “Extending the Traditional Classroom through Online Discussion: The Role of Student Motivation.” __Journal of Educational Computing Research__ v34 n1 2006. P67-89

Dana, Nancy Fichtman and Diane Yendol-Hoppey. __The Reflective Educator’s Guide to Classroom Research__. Thousand Oaks, California: Corwin Press, 2009

1.) My inquiry for this term involved questioning whether using a classroom SharePoint site would increase student engagement outside of the classroom. My hope was that by doing this I would put students at the forefront of their own learning and foster a pedagogical shift in my classroom through collaboration. Much of the research we have been looking at in class discusses the importance of this pedagogical shift to student achievement and community building, which is part of the reason I chose this topic. During my inquiry I found that an online community like this does increase engagement in and out of the classroom, and  that a combination of face-to-face and web-based learning is the most effective way for students to engage in course material. In three sources I used for my field study (referenced above), the conclusion was that a combination of the two extended student engagement beyond the limitations of the class and encouraged a pedagogical shift. The importance of collaboration is also talk about extensively in Ch. 3 of "The Reflective Educators Guide to Classroom Research". // “The intended consequence was that a blending of F2F with online interaction extended student engagement beyond the limitation of a classroom and provided a forum for further collaboration and consultation. The intended outcome was achieved. An unintended consequence was that the tool provided the lecturer with diagnostic information that was used to impact on pedagogical designs.” (Ng’ambi, Dick and Irwin Brown)  // // “We found that students’ use of technology had a significant main effect on students’ learning, F(7.559, 3) = 4.59, p < .01 (see Table 2). As we show in Table 3, students using the course discussion boards 0%–25% of the time averaged a course grade point average of 1.35, significantly less than students who used the discussion boards 26%–50% of the time (GPA = 2.18) and than students who used the discussion boards 51%–75% of the time (GPA = 2.38). Students who participated in class discussion online 76%–100% of the time earned a significantly higher course grade point average (GPA = 2.69) than all other students.” ( Krentler, Kathleen and Laura Willis-Flurry) //

Despite the fact that these studies were done with university students, I was encouraged to see something similar in my field study done with grade 11 students. According to my survey results, students were engaged in online discussions and did use the site for a number of other reasons. The discussions in particular allowed us to continue discussing topics outside of the classroom including ones that had not been addressed yet. I am learning that my future classroom should include both online and face-to-face interaction because according to my conclusions and recent research this is the best environment for learning to occur. I don't want to imply that my discussions were perfect. In fact, in many cases I was somewhat disappointed with the kind of contributions students were making. For many of them this ended up being another space to do a homework question instead of a questioning environment(see journal notes below). Despite this, students indicated that they were engaged and found the site beneficial. Although the discussions did not carry on much online, we did continue them in class and so the discussions online often acted as a catalyst for class discussions, which contributed to student learning and enjoyment in the class.

__**FROM JOURNAL OCTOBER 21ST, 2009**__ //I also posted my 4th discussion question tonight (Technology at War). I got a lot of response from my 3rd discussion and we continued the online discussion in class, however I don’t see a lot of online discussion happening after students make their initial posts. Actually, I don’t see any happening :(   At least we are discussing what the students have written in class. They say that the questions are engaging them when they are not in class however I'm not sure if they are simply saying this. I think maybe I need to give them more permission on the site so that they can post questions themselves. If they had more control maybe they would get more involved? I’m going to post another fun question under the current events discussion for Halloween. I’m pretty sure that will get lots of discussion.//

In my 2nd survey my students said they not only engaged in discussions but also used the Calendar, Announcements, Shared Documents, and RSS feeds during the course of the inquiry. They indicated that these other features were very beneficial to them and that they were a helpful addition to what we did in class. They also gave a number of suggestions on how to make the site more useful, such as other venues for discussions, uploading more documents, and more discussions. I assume if I added some of these features that it might take their engagement to the next level.



 We did an assignment today in the library. Last week I posted the assignment on the calendar and included the actual assignment sheet as an upload. When we got to the library today I noticed that some students had printed the assignment out off of the sharepoint site and already had a “heads up” about what they were doing for the project. This was a breakthrough as I hadn’t told them that I had uploaded the assignment sheet so obviously some of them had gone on to the site and looked in the calendar section. It was interesting to see that they were using/checking the site without me telling them.
 * __FROM JOURNAL NOTES OCTOBER 19TH AND NOVEMBER 10TH, 2009__**

On the weekend I used the calendar section to upload a study guide for our WWI test we had yesterday. I already had our test on the calendar so I simply added the word document for students to use. They said yesterday that this was really helpful and asked if I could do this for future tests and quizzes. It wasn’t any effort on my part so I think I will do this next time. I don’t know if this falls into the category of increasing student engagement but this aspect of the site was obviously beneficial to them. This learning is important to me because I believe that I must continue to try and implement technology into my classroom. In a classroom full of digital learners I think the learning curve for me will be steep but quick and that very soon and can have a classroom where technology use is the norm and not an irregular occurrence. From the research and my conclusions I have learned about the importance of collaboration on student learning. Although my inquiry wasn't perfect and I did not achieve all that I had hoped for, I have now seen the potential that an online classroom has to foster community and collaboration among students. My vision for the future is to increase my knowledge of SharePoint and its potential use in the classroom as a collaborative tool and continue to implement this into my classes.

**__CONNECTION TO PROGRAM CAPACITIES__**

I believe that by understanding and learning more about the "teaching and learning process" I am engaging in a critical cycle of action-reflection. As I incorporate more technology into my classroom, I am constantly reflecting on how this technology is impacting my teaching and my student's learning. I have learned quite a bit this term about collaborative tools, particularly SharePoint. This term has taught me that a combination of face-to-face and online teaching will maximize my student's potential and that in order to grow as an educator I must continue to implement collaborative tools into my class and also encourage others to do so. When doing this I must continue to reflect along the way. By engaging in on-going reflection, I can adjust my practice and how I use technology to ensure that I am reaching an optimal level of teaching and learning in my classroom.

As I learn more about the "teaching and learning process" and conclude my first field study, I continue to draw on educational research to help guide my practice and support my use of technology. I have reshaped many of my thoughts on teaching from the readings I used for my field study. Each one of them emphasized the effect of face-to-face teaching combined with online teaching on student learning. As I read these articles in the summer I was excited to see that my field study had some solid research behind it. I used this research to guide me towards my goal and came back to it when I had setbacks. I also drew theories from Ch. 3 in "The Reflective Educators Guide to Classroom Research" on the importance of teacher talk during my inquiry. I learned about relying on my colleagues for help instead of spending hours by myself trying to figure things out. This research is important in reaffirming what I am doing in my classroom and pushing me to continue with my wonderings.

**3.) WHAT AM I LEARNING ABOUT MYSELF?**


 * I AM LEARNING THAT CREATING A DIGITAL CLASSROOM THAT EFFECTIVELY SERVES THE LEARNING NEEDS OF BOTH MY STUDENTS AND I TAKES TIME, AND THAT I MUST EXPECT FRUSTRATIONS AND SETBACKS IN ORDER TO SEE PROGRESS. **

I must admit that my field study did not go exactly how I planned. I thought initially that it would be a lot easier to get students excited about this. I had envisioned my students fully engaged with the site, commenting on each other’s discussions without my direction, and perhaps even taking initiative with some of the things on the site. In retrospect I think if I gave the students more control of the site they might have been more engaged. Although all of this did not happen, students did participate in the discussions. Although labeled “discussions”, they turned out to be student posts with no further comments from other students. When I reflect on this it seems like simply a different way to do homework. I still think they were beneficial, and according to the survey results they were, however I learned that SharePoint is maybe not the best forum for discussion. (Screen shots)



Other frustrations included getting my students access to the site and learning how to use SharePoint itself. It took a little time to get to a point where all my students were able to get access to the site. The problem had to do with permissions and log-in procedures. Interestingly enough my students that I interviewed all mentioned that easier access would make the site easier to use and more beneficial. ( see journal notes and emails)

**__September 22, 2009__** Frustration!! Students cannot access my site. Emailed site technician for help. Students attempted to access my site at school. Cannot get on!!!! Fixing the problem with site technician. Students can now get on to the discussion board but cannot post or reply to questions! Apparently I need to look at permissions??
 * __September 23, 2009__**
 * __September 28th, 2009__**



I also learned that it is sometimes better to swallow my pride and ask for help than to waste my time trying to figure it out. SharePoint is not an easy program to figure out. I have used other programs such as Wikispaces that I have found far easier to navigate than SharePoint. There were a number of times when I spent quite a bit of time trying to get something to work (trial and error). I was determined to be able to do it myself however I have realized that, particularly with technology, it really helps if someone shows me how to do something first. (Ex. video posts, permissions, site setup) I usually only need to be shown once and then I can do it. Fortunately when I did realize this I was able to rely on my classmates (Brent P.W.) for help which cut down on my frustrations. Learning how to use technology needs co-operation and help from others.

I also learned about moderating/using a site like this. It is one thing to be able to set up a classroom website and another thing to actually know what to do with it to maximize student potential. I don’t think I commented nearly enough on student posts, partly because I knew that most of them would not read what they had written again. I did make lots of comments about the student posts in class to let the students know that I was actually reading and enjoying what they were writing. They seemed to appreciate this and it gave some value to the time they had spent commenting online, however I think I need to take a bigger role online to make this more successful. //I think more discussions are needed around topics covered in class. If I did this I could possibly cut down on the homework given in class which would give students more time to participate online. If I set up an email alert system that would notify students when I had changed something my presence might be more obvious also. I would also like to use the site for more document sharing and give students more control of the site. (Wondering)// I haven’t found the optimal level of participation by myself yet. I want to be very involved but I also don’t want to smother my students with instruction. Ideally I would do less instructing and the students would take over ownership of the discussions, however at the moment I still need to give them a fair amount of guidance.

// “ A good moderator also has to both stand back and let the participants play the main role in the discussion and also intervene to guide the discussion into useful directions. Because high quality facilitation increases the perceived value of online discussion, students may be more motivated to participate in online discussions which are well-facilitated.” ( Xie, Kui, Teresa Debacker and Catherine Ferguson) //

__CONNECTION TO PROGRAM CAPACITIES__

With this learning statement I know I am engaging in a critical cycle of action-reflection to understand and develop my practice. Each time I get frustrated, I step back and reflect on the positives and negatives that have happened so far. In doing this, I am trying to understand my practice better by evaluating what I am doing in terms of its impact on my students. When reflecting I am also developing my practice because much of my reflection leads to me modifying what I am doing slightly. This reflection inevitably leads to improvements in my practice because by modifying what I am doing I am attempting to make it more efficient. If things do not going according to plan, I will re-evaluate again and continue the cycle. In this way the reflection I am doing is truly "action-reflection" and continuous. By reflecting this term I have seen the benefits of technology in my classroom and also developed further questions that I will work towards answering.

Over the course of this semester I have learned a number of different things about my students, myself, and my practice. I have learned that I must continue to foster a pedagogical shift in my classroom through the use of collaborative tools. Despite the frustrations that inevitably come up when implementing change, I have learned through my field study and various research that using collaborative tools in my class is essential for maximizing student potential and engagement. In particular, this semester I have used SharePoint in my class for various reasons such as discussions, announcements, document sharing, and updates. Although my discussions did not go exactly as I hoped, overall the site was beneficial to my students and I believe I should continue using this in the future. During my interviews and discussions with my students, a number of suggestions were made on how I could make a tool like this more useful to students. New questions I have from this semester involve improving my discussions, getting students more engaged through other uses of the site (hand-in box, email updates), and how giving students more control of their online learning would increase their engagement in the material. Other wonderings I have include exploring different venues for hosting discussions/questions, creating a more paperless classroom, and using more web-based lessons to increase understanding. My goal is to continue implementing the technology that I have recently learned about into my classroom and use some of the wonderings and suggestions I have come across to improve my effectiveness as a teacher in the digital age. OTHER WORK FROM THE SEMESTER __**
 * __VISIONS AND GOALS __**
 * __