Educational Technology Research

This week I had the opportunity to view a variety of educational technology research. We all know that technology within the classroom can benefit students in various ways. The integration of technology in education not only support teachers’ teaching strategies but also supports our students learning. As I read through the different educational technology research, a few statistics stood out to me. The first was from Project Tomorrow Speak Up. It stated that in 2010 only 58 percent of parents of school-aged parents carried smartphones. Today, 94 percent of school-aged parents are smartphone carriers. This correlates with a 2016 key finding that states that two-thirds of school principals want new teachers to be proficient in using digital tools such as social media apps to communicate with parents and students. With the growth of smartphone users, teachers can now use an app to instantly connect information to parents and students. I think back to my elementary years when teachers would send newsletters and written notes home to communicate. Many times these papers would get lost. Today, teachers can keep parents up-to-date by using a simple app!

Source: Speak Up 2015 Research Project for Digital Learning Findings - the results of the authentic, K-12 educators nationwide.

The #2 finding stood out to me as well.  There are more game-based learning environments in elementary grades than in middle school and high school. As I thought about that finding, I realized that this is very true. I can name numerous game-based learning apps and games for elementary grades. However, I can not think of many for high school age students. As I reflected on my own experience, I tend to use many learning apps for the elementary students I work with, however, with my high school students I do not. My goal for the next few weeks is to find more game-based learning apps for my older students.

The last finding that I found interesting was that teachers say they are using technology to encourage student self-monitoring of learning (55 percent), examine student performance trends to differentiate instruction (50 percent) and providing regular feedback to their students on performance (48 percent). I would have thought these percentages would have been higher. I believe that each of these findings is essential to my current field of special education. Using technology to encourage students to self-monitor their learning, allows students to see their own progress in reaching their goals. Secondly, by using technology, I can analyze the data to make a decision if I need to change the type of instruction. And lastly, I can use technology to not only provide feedback to the students but also parents and other members of the IEP team.  

Link to Project Tomorrow Speak Up Findings

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Active Learning

Active learning is essential to student success in any subject area. In a “Traditional” learning environment, teachers stand in front of a class lecturing, while students sit at their desk taking notes. Active learning engages students in the learning tasks and requires them to reflect on what they are learning. Active learning can be defined as any instructional method that allows students to take responsibility for their own learning and engages them through speaking, reading, listening, writing, and reflecting.

Sandercock, Irma. Active Learning Chart. How Does Active Learning Support Student Success?.
March 11, 2013. www.teachonline.asu.edu/2013/03/how-does-active-learning-support-student-success

Should teachers keep active learning in mind when developing lessons?

Teachers should definitely incorporate active learning into lessons. If you look at the picture above, you will notice that students remember 10% of what they read, 20% of what they hear, and 30% of what they see. However, they remember 90% of what they do. Learning activities that allow students to actually “do” is active learning. This increases student’s content knowledge and critical thinking skills. Active learning can also address students different learning styles. By incorporating a variety of teaching strategies in active learning, teachers can meet the needs of the visual learner, the aural learner, the kinesthetic learner (etc.).

Active learning is also very beneficial to special education students, which is my current field. I think about students who have functional goals which they need to meet in order live independent. Many of these students need to actually “do” the skill in order to learn it.

Phillip's Active Learning Padlet

This week I had the opportunity to create a Padlet discussing a teacher that incorporated Thinglink into a social studies assignment. Thinglink is a great tool for students! It allows students to tag an image or video with web links, photos, videos, text, and other content. The students in the activity researched information on geography, economy, and the history of different regions in the United States. The students then created a Thinglink to display the facts that they learned about Illinois. I think that this was a great example of active learning. Students were engaged in the lesson by researching and learning various facts. The students then needed to write the important facts they learned. Finally, the students assessed their own work by following a rubric that was created by the teacher. Here is the link to my Padlet for more information about the activity.  Below is a quick Thinglink I created and I included a few links as well.

Thinglink Example

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Mapping Digital Learning Spaces

This week I had the opportunity to learn about mapping my digital learning space. I explored apps within my phone and also explored my online usage. I then created a digital map to represent my usage, which was divided into four separate quadrants: visitor, resident, professional, and personal. Visitor mode (far left) represents the web being utilized as a collection of "tools" and leaves no social trace. An example of visitor mode could be searching a site or app for information. Resident mode (far right) represents the web being used as a network of places. Resident mode leaves social traces and shows the user being socially present. The last two quadrants are professional and personal. Professional (top y-axis) describes online or app activity that is used mostly for work. Personal (bottom y-axis) describes apps or online activity which is mostly used for personal use. 

My digital space map:    

Phillip's Digital Map

At first, I was surprised when I completed my digital space map. Before starting my map, I thought that most of my digital space would fall in the visiting range. However, I actually spend most of my time on the resident side. As I reflected on my current internet and app use, I realized that the only time I'm in the visiting mode is when I'm browsing apps like Pinterest or ESPN.   I spend most of my digital time communicating with friends, family, and even parents through various apps. I'm glad I had the opportunity to create the digital map to see where most of my digital space takes place. I'm interested in seeing how my digital map will change as I grow and evolve in my career.

Take a look at the video. Dave White explains how to create a Digital Space Map.

Dave White. "Just The Mapping". Online Video Clip. YouTube. YouTube, September 13, 2013. Web. September 11, 2017. 

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Self- Evaluation of Technology

The Triple E Framework is often referred to as learning first, technology second. The Triple E Framework measures the degree in which the technology that is used within a lesson, helps the student reach learning goals for the lesson. Many other technology frameworks, such as SAMR and TPACK, focus mostly on how technology is used. The Triple E Framework focuses on how well the technology helps reach the learning goal while also incorporating effective instructional strategies. The Triple E uses a measurement tool which allows teachers to develop effective lesson plans and evaluate the technological tools used to help meet the lesson's goal. Triple E is based on three components. The first component is engagement. Students can naturally become engaged with any form of technology. The level of engagement means that the student becomes actively involved in the content of the technology. Engagement also encourages students to work collaboratively with the technology, such as in pairs or groups. The second component is the enhancement. Enhancement means that the technology tool ENHANCES the lesson presented. The technology used should assist and aid the lesson in a way that a traditional method could not. The enhancement level allows learning to become more personalized for the student. The final component is the extension which allows the technology to help connect the student to the real world. The technology used will aid the student in understanding the lesson goals and also aid in applying the concepts outside of the classroom.

The Triple E Framework Components 

http://www.tripleeframework.com/uploads/2/2/8/7/2287991/4982594.png

I personally enjoyed learning about the Triple E framework the most. Before taking the evaluation rubric, I knew that I was in the engagement stage. After taking the evaluation, it was confirmed that I am in between the engagement and enhancement stage. I work with students on their academic skills as well as their social/emotional skills. I am constantly thinking of ways to incorporate technology into the activities I complete with them. I usually use IPAD’s to allow the students to review a lesson. The students are usually “engaged” because of the IPAD. To move higher into enhancement and extension components, I will incorporate more cooperative learning activities using the IPAD. I will also like to incorporate more personalized activities using technology, which will allow the students to apply the social/emotional skills outside of school.

Technology Integration Matrix. “Prevent A Hurricane”. Online Video Clip. YouTube. YouTube, November 13, 2016. Web. September 6, 2017.

The Prevent a Hurricane lesson provided was a great example of how to use the Triple E Framework. I think this is a great guide to establish different ways of using technology in all three components.  

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