Redo Standards 5 & 8

Standard 5

Advocate, model, and teach safe, legal, and/or ethical use of digital information and technology, including, but not limited to, respect for copyright, intellectual property, and the appropriate documentation of sources.

I previously discussed ethics and technology but failed to give some concrete examples of how to incorporate into the classroom.  Here are some concrete strategies for the classroom:

1. Discuss with students the acceptable use policy used by the school.  Talk about what classifies as private information that would include home addresses, telephone numbers, e-mail addresses, and labeled photographs of students/friends/faculty.  Ask for examples from the class and put up on the wall for future reference.
2. Discuss bullying policies and cyber bullying.  Discuss the similarities of name calling on the playground and how it would relate to posting or texting mean statements to students.  Have students provide examples to test for understanding. 
3. Have students sign an internet usage agreement that some school districts already have in place.  The code of conduct should discuss the student’s expectations and boundaries.  Aspects of the Des Moines Public Schools one can be used if needed.  Link
4. Practice documenting sources for different research projects. This can be tailored to grade level and explaining that using someone else’s work can be stealing if not properly documented.  Discuss the differences between copyrighted trademarks like NBA, NFL, major brands and intellectual property such as a work or invention that is the result of creativity, such as a manuscript or a design, to which one has rights and for which one may apply for a patent, copyright, trademark, etc.  Have the class give examples of both to display on the chart to refer to as the year continues.  Refer and add to the chart as new examples are brought up and understood. 

Standard 8

Uses educational technology to engage students in collaborative knowledge construction.

I previously discussed using KAHOOT! in the classroom as an effective tool to introduce topics and ultimately assess formatively the understanding of individual students and the class as a whole.  What I left out was how it can also be used to support collaborative knowledge construction.  Knowledge construction is a collaborative process that’s purpose is to produce new thoughts or knowledge that exceed what anyone alone could achieve.  It is also essential that knowledge construction is based on other students’ ideas and thoughts.  Using KAHOOT!  Students would be able to accomplish this by taking off time limits off to allow time to discuss in groups or even as a class.  Students could ask the teacher for qualifying questions or help with clarifying the vocabulary used.  The additional time would also allow students to work and research the questions together as a group.  Students would be able to use their notes or textbook and, in some cases, utilize their computers.  This all depends on the complexity of the test and if it was being used to assess prior knowledge or test understanding at the end of a unit.  In cooperative learning situations, there is a positive interdependence among students' goal attainments; students perceive that they can reach their learning goals if and only if the other students in the learning group also reach their goals. (Johnson, et al) If and when the groups don’t come to the same conclusion than a more important classroom discussion can take place to cement understanding where there is confusion.  Tables that were correct can help teach the other student’s concepts and how they came upon their answers. 

Johnson, David W., et al. “Chapter 1. What Is Cooperative Learning?” What Is Cooperative Learning? www.ascd.org/publications/books/194034/chapters/What-Is-Cooperative-Learning%C2%A2.aspx.

Standard 4: NOT and Elementary School Teachers

NOT and Elementary School Teachers

The teaching of nature of technology (NOT) at a young age is important to build the foundation for students to utilize technology effectively and wisely throughout their social and academic careers.  I plan to teach at the upper elementary grade level (3-5) and the use of technology is abundant in the practicum classrooms I was involved.  Elementary students for the most part are rules driven and I plan to have a chart on the wall of questions to ask ourselves before using technology and a technology leader assigned each week.  This reflection will be important to hold myself accountable and to teach those skills to students who have primarily used technology for entertainment.  Bringing this awareness and questioning whether or not we should be using technology should be a routine discussion.  As Dr. Kruse states:
“NOT understanding is crucial so teachers can assist students in understanding the processes, characteristics, philosophy and content of technology.” (Kruse)

The decision to use technology in the classroom and the NOT needs to be weighed before every lesson plan.  I plan to use a set of questions similar to this before implementing into the lesson:



Link: Teachthought.com


I also think it is important and have learned that setting the learning goal first and then deciding to integrate technology is important.  Just because the school has technology available doesn’t mean that it should be used.  If appears fun then I need to especially be careful that I am not entertaining the students rather than teaching them the learning target.  As Dr. Kruse states:


“The crucial point here is to carefully consider how new technologies may simply be more sophisticated and expensive versions of already existing materials and approaches in education.” (Kruse)


Just because all students may have access to a laptop does not mean it should be their primary reference tool and shouldn’t always be used as opposed to pencil and paper or a dictionary/encyclopedia.  The choice and identifying technology is a crucial aspect of education.

I need to be reflective of how technology can make students feel in the classroom as well.  Any competitive games can be detrimental to young students who are still developing their study habits and are becoming better students every day.  Like Anya Kamenetz explains in her article that

In a highly data-driven classroom, students who struggle may be made acutely aware, to the percentile, of how far behind the average they are. This could be enough to trigger stereotype threat, depressing performance still more. (Kamenetz)

I can see this in my own children who know what level they are in reading and compare themselves to other student’s ability based on this information.  Some students take longer to learn certain subjects and stifling their passion and growth would be awful. 

The value laden aspect is definitely a new thought process that I will take into account when determining if using technology is beneficial.  Each technology brings its own biases and what are the lessons whether implicit or explicit that are being taught by incorporating it into a lesson.

The limitations of technology and tradeoffs needs to also be considered.  It there a more concrete way to teach this lesson as we have learned that being abstract can be harmful to the lesson and keep students from the zone of proximal development.  Yes, a person can learn about trees and photosynthesis through cool pictures and models but actually going outside and seeing it would be more effective. In Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age Sherry Turkle states: 

“The web promises to make our world bigger. But as it works now, it also narrows our exposure to ideas. We can end up in a bubble in which we hear only the ideas we already know. Or already like.”

This is important to always remember to go concrete before anything else.  What we search for on the web or what we research will likely give us what we already know and believe.  It is in conversations with classmates and teachers that our minds open up.  

The core of each lesson must be intact without the use of technology to ensure that technology is not using us.  A student should still be able to complete a book report without the use of a computer and still know how to research, write, and evaluate.       

I need to always be the guiding light in the classroom to model the safe, legal, and ethical decisions when choosing technology.  Dr Kruse states in his article “Implications of the Nature of Technology for Teaching and Teacher Education”:
“Technologies come with inherent value systems. While these systems sometimes reflect the values of the user, they more often reflect the values of the designer and in some contexts may not reflect the value systems of either.”

Cyberbullying must be taught at an early level and examples shown to the class to discuss.  Discussing with the class examples before they even use social media is important so that they can identify it when they encounter these problems and know the steps to take to prevent and seek the help of an adult.

The right to privacy will also have to be taught to elementary students from the beginning of day one as most have access to a smart phone.  Letting students know the ethical dilemma and repercussions of posting someone else’s picture or video online without their permission.  This should be incorporated in with the guidance counselors help when talking about feelings and bullying in general.      

Academic dishonesty certainly will be a new topic for elementary age students but again as they progress into writing reports and citing sources it is important to learn these skills early.  Examples can be shown as to who gets credit and how to identify a credible source when using the internet.  The technology leader can help narrow down websites that are acceptable for use when researching a new animal or country.  Depending on the age group the accuracy can also be varied but the idea that if what you are saying is directly copied from a website or paper is an easier concept to explain.     

The values don’t end in the classroom though and as Joanne Olson, et al. showed in her research anything posted online can be seen by students or parents.  The character counts program is a standard that must be met at all times.  Olson says that this

includes lessons that focus on the teaching of trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship. The program developers acknowledge that “it is always primarily a parent’s job to teach a child how to behave and make wise choices, but other institutions and adults working with young people play critical support roles.” Teachers play a pervasive role in children’s lives from preschool through high school. Thus, the character, behavior and judgment of teachers are crucial to the wellbeing of children and society. (Olson et al.)

This means that a teacher is always on the front page of the paper and online posts need to be something that could be seen or said in a classroom.  We are held to a higher standard and need to be aware of it 24/7.  Even posts from someone else and linked to us can be used against us to determine whether are values are aligned properly for the education of children. 

The Nature of Technology has many different aspects that need to be taught in order for technology to be used successfully in the classroom.  I have learned that our learning as teachers must never end as well because as soon as you think you understand a technology or how it affects the classroom/society it will change.  Continuing education is important to stay ahead of these topics because as the teacher we are the leader.  It is imperative that we understand how the technology works but also how the values, ethics, and philosophies will be intertwined into our students as a result of it’s use. 

Sources

Kamenetz, Anya. “What's At Risk When Schools Focus Too Much on Student Data?” KQED, 7 June 2016, www.kqed.org/mindshift/45396/whats-at-risk-when-schools-focus-too-much-on-student-data.

Olson, Joanne, et al. “Prospective Elementary Teachers Gone Wild? An Analysis of Facebook Self-Portrayals and Expected Dispositions of Preservice Elementary Teachers.” Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, Publisher: Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education, Waynesville, NC USA, 1 Dec. 2009, www.learntechlib.org/p/30399/.

Perkins, Drew. “15 Questions To Ask About Tech Integration In Your Classroom -.” TeachThought, 18 Mar. 2019, www.teachthought.com/technology/using-technology-can/.

Waight, N., & Abd-El-Khalick, F. (2007). The impact of technology on the enactment of inquiry in atech nology enthusiast’s sixth grade science classroom. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 44(1),154–182.

Standards 8 & 9

Uses educational technology to engage students in collaborative knowledge construction.

Uses educational technology to reveal and assess students’ thinking.

            I chose to use the website/application Kahoot to develop a formative assessment for my students.  I would like to teach at the elementary level and having the students engage in fun and sometimes competitive quizzes will be important to keep them a captive audience.  I have never used it in class as a teacher or as a participant.  My only knowledge was hearing about it from students when I substitute teach mostly at the high school level.  I found the website easy to use and the format was user friendly enough for upper elementary age students to engage in quizzes or to poll students of their understanding before or after a unit.  I made a simple nutritional quiz that the students could take after the unit was over and have points assigned to each question.  Kahoot offers the ability to play competitively with points assigned to quiz questions in the quiz mode or a jumble mode.  Jumble mode is similar to dragging different questions in correct order which would be helpful with timelines or life cycles.  In survey or discussion mode the intent is to gain feedback from the students without needing a correct answer.  This would be helpful when starting or stopping a unit to identify problem areas that need to be addressed more directly.  Kahoot could be used to put together a quick quiz or with some planning you can add pictures/videos and really make the quiz more appealing to the audience.  Each question can be allotted a different amount of time to answer as well so if you are playing in a group mode there can be discussion at the table before answering. 

The information polled from the students can be made into a report for future use or to share with other teachers.  It conveniently gives you the option to save directly to your Google drive as well.  The graphs could be used to assess student’s prior knowledge of the subject and then again to assess their understanding after the unit is over.  I think from metacognitive aspect it will be important for students to see their progress as a class as well as individually.  I think it would be great to develop over the unit and have other teachers add questions based on the feedback from their classes.  After each question a graph of what the students answered is displayed and gives the teacher and the class instant feedback on each question and can instantly show understanding.  This will help the collaborative effort of the teacher asking those students who identified the correct answer to share their thoughts or how they came to that particular outcome.  

Link to my Kahoot  


https://create.kahoot.it/share/nutrional-knowledge-quiz/1c476bff-c2bc-4390-ac35-806e7f19cabb

Standard 1 - Articulates a robust definition for technological literacy.

Technology can be defined as any tool, machine and/or program that is used to help solve problems or complete tasks in a more efficient manner.  This can be from changing or adapting our knowledge, skills, processes, techniques, tools and raw materials.  Technological Literacy is defined by the International Technology Education Association's (ITEA) as the ability to use, manage, evaluate, and understand technology.  Technological literacy is not just the ability to navigate the simple functions of a program or technology.  The ability to evaluate its usefulness and overall advantage over a more analog form is important.  Some undesired side effects can occur and it is important when being technologically literate to weigh the pros and cons of implementation.  Many believe that technology can be a quick fix to some of the world’s problems but the outcome isn’t always the desired one.  Melissa Bettie-Moss states "Despite our hopes and dreams, computers do not level the socioeconomic playing field or solve educational problems all on their own. In fact, illiteracy rates don't look all that different than they did before computers. In certain areas, computers aid productivity and enable new forms of work and play, but they can also create new problems and exacerbate old ones."  Technological literacy is the knowledge about the actions each new tech requires along with the consequences from a real-world perspective.

CLT & DLT

Educational Technology

Standard 6: Uses educational technology to promote student thinking/reflection to clarify students’ conceptual understanding.

Standard 7: Uses educational technology to make abstract content more accessible to students.

When researching for an educational tool for an elementary classroom I wanted to ensure that it would be safe from viruses and was more than just a new program or application.  What I found was Osmo: https://www.playosmo.com/en/.  Osmo turns any iPad or iPhone into a tangible learning tool.  I like that Osmo works with iPad and iPhone as they are not as susceptible to being hacked or viruses taking over the program as other hardware.  Some programs in Osmo are available in Spanish as well as English making it accessible to more students and can help bridge the gap with some ELL students.    

 “Osmo enables the iPad and iPhone to merge the power of physical play with the digital advantages of real-time feedback. Playing beyond the screen invites students to collaborate on tables or floors while manipulating tangible game pieces such as number tiles, letter tiles, and coding blocks.” Osmo Official Website

 Osmo is also continuously growing and is currently in 30,000 schools.  It is beneficial for grades K-6 so an investment into this technology would not be limited to only one classroom but could easily float between grade levels or classrooms.  The most important aspect of Osmo is that it helps clarify students’ conceptual understanding by using physical blocks or tangible game pieces such as number tiles, letter tiles, and coding blocks.  When using the blocks, the camera on the Osmo reacts to the placement and creates a fun learning environment that changes students’ concepts to concrete thoughts and ideas.  This feedback is instant and provides visual and auditory feedback.  This acts as a scaffolding effect when students are close to the right answer but need a little help or a hint to bring them along to the correct answer.  Beginning with concrete representations prior to the use of abstractions is more likely to result in accurate understanding of abstract concepts (Olson, 2008).  Osmo would be used to enhance the current curriculum and not replace entirely.   Research indicates that people more easily understand abstractions when they are preceded by concrete representations (Olson, 2008).  The Osmo system is built on the four C’s of the 21st century: collaboration, communication, creativity and critical thinking.  Collaboration is important for students to develop social and emotional skills in addition to the subject being learned.  The communication involved develops leadership skills and helps the team work in cooperation with each other.  The app is designed to bring concrete objects to life and students are not limited by the apps programming.  The apps programs are designed to move students through their learning and always produce new scenarios that require critical thinking to solve.   

 Osmo uses tangram pieces, number and word tiles to help abstract ideas in mathematics and geometry come to life in front of the student.  Osmo uses concrete objects and turns them into adaptable drawings that each student can change and manipulate.  This technology will help develop a positive experience when working with subjects like art, handwriting, STEM, spelling and geography.  Students accumulate points and can be competitive in learning and progressing through the programs.  As a father of two kids in elementary school I can tell you that it is a sense of pride for them to know what level reading they are at or what their latest score on their computer math game is currently.  The abstract content appears to come alive as soon as the tiles are placed in front of the camera.  This will be enough to engage every student and the point system will help motivate those already eager to learn to move further along with the subject matter into more difficult scenarios.  In “Have technology and multitasking rewired how students learn” Willingham suggests that even though technology can’t be a guarantee to make students learn it is sometimes the little energy boost that is needed to engage students (Willingham 2010)  The Osmo system would allow the teacher to incorporate another approach to learning and wouldn’t require much set up time and could be used as a reward until all content was verified.    



“Kids Learn Best Through Play | Osmo Hands On Learning System‎”

Osmo – Award-Winning Educational Games System for IPad, http://www.playosmo.com/en/schools/.


Willingham, D. (2010). Have technology and multitasking rewired how students learn? American Educator, 23-42. Retrieved from https://www.aft.org/sites/default/files/periodicals/willingham-summer-10.pdf

Technological Literacy & Ethical Issues with Technology

Technological Literacy

Standard 1 - Technological Literacy

Technological literacy is always changing and it is becoming more difficult to become literate on all types of technology and platforms.  Technological Literacy is defined by the International Technology Education Association's (ITEA) as the ability to use, manage, evaluate, and understand technology.  It is almost impossible to confidently say that one is an expert at all types of technology and the ability to use all of them effectively.  Technology is racing forward quickly with more and more individuals and companies creating new and improved platforms and gadgets on a daily basis.  It really is mind numbing to wrap your head around all of the improvements that have happened over just the last decade.
  

Probably the best aspect of becoming technologically literate is that software and technology is becoming more and more resilient and a lot of times are so user friendly that an individual can learn a lot by simple trial and error.  I know for me it is still a challenge to teach this to may parents who seem to think that pushing the wrong button on the remote might break the tv or somehow interrupt their cable service.  Children are easier at learning new technology because they click before thinking and continue clicking or trying new functions until they reach their desired outcome.  I think the biggest challenge is not trying to incorporate our children learning technology but how to keep teachers and the vast majority of the population that is outside of school literate on the latest technology.  Once a person who is not competent in using technology learns that there is little, they can mess up by simply playing with a new system and realizing that there are likely safeguards put into place to ensure catastrophic failures will not occur.  There are always a plethora of user videos and reviews on all technology showing a new user the functions either in a YouTube video or similar style format.  Another good aspect of technology is that you don’t need to learn how an operating system worked 5 or 10 years ago to start learning it today.  Chances are that the developers have troubleshot through many of the difficulties and made it more user friendly if it is either a piece of technology or program that has withstood the test of time. 

Ethical Issues & Technology

Standard 5 - Ethics and Technology

I think that talking about ethical issues and technology is similar to how one might teach a child about common manners or even in some parallels to say no to drugs.  There are many ethical issues when dealing with technology and they vary from not using all caps when emailing your colleagues to not plagiarizing and correctly citing your sources.  It is never to early for students to learn all of the particulars and dangers that using technology can create.  Everyone has seen teachers begging others to retweet an image or phrase so that their class can see the impact the internet has and the speed at which information good or bad can spread throughout the world.  As a future educator it is of paramount importance to teach students all this from an early age even if they don’t quite comprehend all of the formalities and details.  We teach children that bullying is bad before they fully understand what it is and how to identify those actions.  We also teach children that drugs are bad and to just say no.  We should be doing exactly the same with letting children know that it is dangerous to text and drive and that posting someone’s video or picture on the internet without their consent can be damaging or hurtful.  The better able to identify these actions and the more it is role played for them what to say and how to say it will help immensely when confronted with these always difficult to deal with situations.  Technology will become more or more complex but the simple rules of how to treat other people will never change.      



Koehler, M. J., & Mishra, P. (2009). What is technological pedagogical content knowledge?
Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education, 9(1), 60-70.



Bleazby, Jennifer. “How Compatible Are Communities of Inquiry and the Internet? Some Concerns about the Community of Inquiry Approach to E-Learning.” E-Learning and Digital Media, vol. 9, no. 1, 2012, pp. 1–12.