Wicked Problem Project

Problem - Educational Need

During our most recent week-long Zoo Camp, several students missed a day or two, therefore missing out on lessons and animal information. This leads me to believe that my important educational need would be that absent students don’t always get the same lessons. It’s apparent that a solution needs to be researched and identified, even though there is not any formal testing done at the zoo camps. As a Zoo Education Camp Teacher, my students, their ages, and the topics change, but we often reuse the same lesson plans year after year.

Solution - Address Educational Need

After observing and teaching a couple week long camps, I decided to investigate the best alternative for the students and the zoo program. My research helped to identify my plan to create screencasts of important information from the lessons as well as animal information. By creating screencasts this will allow absent students to receive the same or similar lessons as their classmates. I want every zoo camper to feel like a part of the camp, even when a day is missed. By providing the child with the screencast of the information missed, he/she will be able to learn the same information as the campers that were there. Since my students do change and are absent sometimes, this screencast would enable me to have the absent student learn about this topic independently. An added feature would be that by creating these screencasts, future camp teachers and co-workers will be able to use these in their future camps at the zoo.

TPACK

What is the TP knowledge for the solution?  (i.e., how does the technology you have chosen support the teaching strategies and methods you have chosen?)

Screencast software programs are available free online, easy to learn even for beginners, and instructors don’t have to be technical wizards to produce them or use them. My screencasts will be available on the shared drive on the zoo computers. These lessons will be kept in each camp’s file and available to not only absent students, but other zoo employees. These files will be available for students the entire duration of the camp or via email upon request. There are before and after care programs that most of the students participate in so these screencasts could be viewed during this time if not possible at home. This allows all the students to be able to participate in our learning, even if it is in different formats. Some of the pedagogical strategies that can be used include: providing resource materials to supplement the lesson (screencast), addressing students that missed the lesson, providing additional materials for further learning, and providing materials through technology to address multiple learning styles.

What is the TC knowledge for the solution? (i.e., how specifically does this technology make the content in your problem more intellectually accessible?  Be sure to think about representation.)

As a Zoo Education Camp Teacher, my students, their ages, and the topics change, but we often reuse the same lesson plans year after year. I plan to create screencasts of important information from the lessons as well as animal information.  I want every zoo camper to feel like a part of the camp by providing the child with the screencast of the information missed so he/she will be able to learn the same information.  Screencasts allow me to add audio clips of animals’ sounds which really will make the animal become more realistic.  I will be able to bring lessons alive through my students using their visual and auditory senses to learn about new animals.  The screencasts will allow the students to also learn at a pace that is comfortable for them either during camp or via email. If students are struggling with an idea, which could be learned with repetition, a screencast allows instruction to be readily available to refer to as needed.

What is the PC knowledge for the solution? (i.e., how specifically do your pedagogical choices make the content in your problem more intellectually accessible?) Be sure to think about how the student will experience the content given these instructional strategies.

Students really express their regrets on missing some of the animals and projects if they have been absent. The ability to view some of the lesson either at the zoo or at home would fill in some of the gaps. These students would show less confusion about information that is being reviewed later in the week, therefore indicating that the screencasts were successful in teaching him/her the missed information. Screencasts are also good with differentiation. If I needed to split the group into two different groups to work on a task or project, one group could work with me while the other group learned content via screencast. This would allow easy accessibility to new knowledge because if the students needed to have a part repeated for clarification, all they need to do is go back. By using the screencast, the following Indiana State Standards could apply:

English

2.7.1 Comprehension: Determine the purpose or purposes of listening (such as to obtain information, to solve problems, or to enjoy humor).

3.7.1 Comprehension: Retell, paraphrase, and explain what a speaker has said.

4.7.2 Summarize major ideas and supporting evidence presented in spoken presentations.

Science

K3 Observe living organisms, compare and contrast their characteristics, and ask questions about them.

K3.2 Describe and compare living animals in terms of shape, texture of body covering, size, weight, color and the way they move.

1.3.4 Describe how animals, habitats, including plants, meet their needs for food, water, shelter and an environment in which they live.

My Alligator Screencast can be viewed here.

Personal Learning Plan

Excerpt from my Personal Learning Plan:

Learning More

            I’ve come to realize after taking these three certificate classes that I don’t know as much about technology integration as I thought. I always knew there was more to learn, but the possibilities and technologies are endless! I love learning new technology and software that can be added to my classroom or current setting.

            Today’s generation is constantly immersed in technology; therefore it only makes sense to teach the students using it. As a video in one of our sessions stated, why teach students in the traditional format when they experience every part of their life with technology. By accessing my PLN, I will be able to learn new ideas and suggestions for new technologies. I can even use my PLN to get help or tutorials to learn how to use the new technologies they suggest. There are also people out there who can help as a resource if needed.

            I’m always searching the internet for new ideas or lessons to use. A lot of the lessons listed offer technology alternatives or ideas for lessons. Sometimes they are even technologies that I’m unfamiliar with. This would allow me the opportunity to learn new technologies for a specific lesson.

Group Leadership Project

CEP812 Group Presentation on Prezi

What tool did your group use to deliver the PD tutorial?  Why?

            We used Prezi to deliver our professional development tutorial. We chose this tool because it allowed for a creative representation of our content. It also allowed for variety in presentation with words only, audio over images, and videos. It allowed us to easily create each of our own sections to be combined seamlessly as one tutorial.

What did you learn during the development process of the final product?

            Technology speaking, I learned how to create a video using Windows Movie Maker and how to convert the file into a format that will play automatically in Prezi. Based on our content, I learned a lot about using iPods and iPads in the elementary classroom. I learned that there are a lot of apps available and lessons created by other teachers that can be easily applied to your classroom setting. The possibilities of integrated iPods and iPads into the classroom are endless as well as the options that are available through iTunes.

What would you do differently if you had to develop a similar product again?

            I, personally, would probably not use Prezi for a tutorial with audio. I would find a tool that already has an audio option with it. I felt that the steps used to create the videos and convert the audio for Windows Movie Maker, were a little excessive. An idea would be to create a screencast and Jing it, which easily adds the audio to the tutorial.

Poll Everywhere

I really enjoyed this site! This is a great tool to not only let the teacher know the progress of the students or questions they may have, but it allows those students who are quiet to be able to participate or ask questions. I used my poll to pre-test my students' knowledge about dinosaurs that I will use in a future zoo camp. You can see their results listed below. I can see the uses of the site are endless and I look forward to possibly using it again in the future!

Make your own poll voting question with Poll Everywhere

Mobile Learning

What tools did you try?

I looked at using Flip Cameras, USB Drives, Smartphones, and iPods. I chose to look at using Flip Video Cameras because I own one and would love to learn the best ways to integrate this simple technology with my students. I chose to look at USB Drives because I would love the chance to integrate them into my class some day and learn the best ways to do so. I wanted to look at using Smartphones because they are becoming a popular tool to use in the classroom. Students always have them with them anyway, so why not make use of the technology. Even elementary aged students are getting cell phones. I also looked at using iPods. I also own an iPod, although it is a Nano. There are still lots of great tools and ideas out there to use different kinds of iPods to help the students learn.

What ways are you thinking about integrating mobile technology into YOUR classroom?

I tried lots of sites and resources since I have a special interest in using a flip camera because I own one. The best description of why to use a flip camera in a classroom is because they are a kid friendly plug and play device that can be held with one hand, operated with one finger, and can be plugged into the USB drive of any computer to create and make awesome digital projects. There are also tutorials on how to use a camera, how to download a camera, faq’s, converters to use, toolbox resources, and how to download to YouTube available online. 

http://www.technologybitsbytesnibbles.info/archives/1479

http://teachingall.blogspot.com/2009/03/ways-to-use-flip-cameras-in-classroom.html

http://sites.google.com/site/srahn/Home/flip

http://cnx.org/content/m32297/latest/

http://www.teachscienceandmath.com/2010/08/02/5-creative-ways-to-use-flip-cameras-in-science-and-math/

http://theteachershub.com/2009/10/5-resource-sites-for-using-flip-cameras/

What challenges (or inspirations) do you foresee?

Numerous lesson plans and suggestions from teachers with videos are available.  I really liked several suggestions and would really consider using these in my classroom. 

·         Send happy emails to parents of how great their kids are doing since we sometimes forget to do the positive.

·         Record specific difficult lessons that I teach for review for students.

·         Record and document field trips, especially good with budget cuts for future classes.

·         Video great things going on in school to use at faculty meetings, etc.

·         Show student progress.

·         Another way to assess student’s knowledge and experience is let them make a video to expand a topic, such as an advertisement.

PART D - Findings and Implications

Formative: Did the project get implemented as planned?

            Yes, the portion of the project I planned to implement for this class did get implemented as planned. I realize that as I am able to produce and incorporate more lessons here at the zoo there will be more opportunity to view students in action and their responses. 

Summative: Evidence of success in addressing the problem of practice

            The students who did participate in the project were able to answer the questions promptly and participate in the class discussion following as a result. The smiles on the students’ faces also indicated success since they did learn about alligators. They also were able to talk about them with the rest of the group and feel included.

How would you approach another project of this type differently given what you’ve learned here?

            I would prefer to approach another project in a different setting because I would rather use it in a regular attended classroom. Using this type of project for absent students that I only saw for one week was very difficult. It would also be easier to have the entire project finished so that all my co-workers could have benefited from using it, plus give me input. We know students ages when they come for our zoo camps, but not all students learn the same way or at the same level. If we had this information, that would benefit my project more.

What are the lessons learned that others might benefit from knowing about?

            Screencasts are easy to use and implement, but take time to find the software that is applicable to the instructor’s needs, student’s needs, and the information being taught. I would also recommend practice using the screencast with students prior to your implementation to see if they can maneuver it, such as a lesson someone else produced. I would also suggest learning or knowing your students learning abilities prior to creating screencasts. Since my screencast contained some information that was a little advanced for her, I recommend doing a pretest of student ability at the beginning.

In what ways will you endeavor to do the same project again, and what will you change or not do?

            I am planning on making a dinosaur lesson plan for my next zoo project. I have already decided to make it into different screencast segments such as: types of dinosaurs, size of dinosaurs, what did they eat, and what animals were around with the dinosaurs. By choosing different topics and making individual screencasts it will enable the lessons to be implemented more by my co-workers and absent students. It will also allow me to build onto the project as needed, since they will be mini-lessons. Since using Poll Everywhere tool, I would recommend doing a pre-test of knowledge and information before creating a lesson and its corresponding screencast. This will allow me to see what level(s) I need to create the screencasts, based on student abilities.

PART B - Storyboard and Script

My group is doing our project on Mobile Technology Uses in Elementary Classrooms. We used Google Presenter as our storyboarding tool. You can find our storyboard by clicking here or on the screenshot below.

Each group member scripted his/her part of the project. Our names are by the sections we worked on; Colin is doing the introduction and animation as digital storytelling, Neringa is doing iPad/iPod Touch apps for elementary students to develop literacy skills, and I am talking about how iPod Nano/Touch (podcasts, apps, features) can be used in the elementary classroom,as well as the conclusion.

For our final presentation we will be using Prezi. We are planning to each create our section of information in the Prezi, each record the audio for our section, and piece it together to make our complete tutorial.