S3 Mobile Learning Lab

Through the mobile learning lab, I joined the Cell Phones in Education forum. One of the first posts I read was by Dale about Saline schools amending their BYOD policy for cell phones in the classroom. Working in Ann Arbor (right next door to Saline), I was shocked by this. Our district has a firm no cell phones in the classroom policy. Last year, I asked my principal how many of the 4th grade students tend to have cell phones because I wanted to perhaps use them for polls or Twiddla. She said most of them did have them, but I probably wouldn't be allowed to do it since it goes against the school/district's policy on cell phones about using phones during the school day. It's so frustrating to have that sort of red tape that impedes on educational opportunities.

I made a poll using www.polleverywhere.com to ask other posters on the Cell Phones in Education forum whether their district has rules against using cell phones in the classroom even under teacher guidance. The (limited) response was split - half said 'yes' and half said 'no.'

Because of the limitations in using cell phones specifically in the classroom, I looked at some of the other technologies in the mobile learning lab, specifically FlipCams. One of the ideas I really liked was using FlipCams to have students record PSAs. I like the idea of doing something like this for our PBIS kickoff assembly for the year to illustrate the most important rules in our school and perhaps the referral process. I wanted to look at the ideas for USB flash drives but the blog that was linked on the lab was no longer active.

Wicked Problem Project Part D: Findings and Implications

1. Formative: Did the project get implemented as planned?

At this point in time, my plan was to explore EdModo and become familiar with it’s features. I would practice making sample assignments and quizzes, then experiment taking these through a “student” account. I would also explore the “parent account” so that I can provide guidance to parents who are having difficulty navigating the system. I have done all of these things. I created a quiz out of one of my district’s math checking progress assessments. I  decided for EdModo gradebook purposes, it would be more informative for myself and parents to break these quizzes into the individual objectives that they were testing. So rather than having a ten question quiz, there was 3 quizzes each with 3-4 questions. The questions varied from fill in the blank to short answer. I realized that some of the objectives would have to be completed on pencil and paper such as having students create a bar graph from data.

I went into the mock student account and took these quizzes with no issue. A potential problem for students is that they may forget to answer all of the questions before submitting because they have to click on the individual question numbers to navigate. I then returned to my teacher account to view the grade. I could see my responses, however, the final grade did not appear in the gradebook. I found out the reason for this is that I had made my due date on Friday and grades wouldn’t post until the due date had elapsed.  I also couldn’t figure out a way to adjust the due date.

The remainder of my implementation plan will occur throughout the school year.

2. Summative: Evidence of success in addressing the problem of practice

There were several goals for implementing Edmodo:

• Increase student motivation for writing.
• Make parents more informed about their child’s academic progress.
• Use it as a tool for assessment in order to provide multiple means of student response (not only the quiz function but also the discussion forums and assignments).
• Give students the opportunity to engage in discussions with one another and others around the country while also practicing their writing skills in an authentic manner.

One type of evidence that I will collect is student and parent survey data. For students, I will have them complete a paper and pencil survey at the start of the year about their attitude towards writing. After several months of using Edmodo, we will return to this survey (this time using the Edmodo survey feature). I will ask students the following questions on both surveys [Each response will be based on a 5-point scale (1=not at all, 2=a little, 3=some, 4=a lot, 5=a whole lot)]:

• I like writing stories.
• Writing is boring.
• I like to write in my spare time.
• I enjoy writing notes and letters to people.
• I like writing at school.
• It’s fun to write things at home.
• I like to share my writing with others.
• Writing is fun.
• I wish I had more time to write at school.
• I think I’m a good writer.
• I like to write.

I will use the results of this survey to determine class averages for the answers to each question. I can then compare these averages from pre- to post-surveys. This will help me to determine whether Edmodo was effective at increasing student motivation for writing. In addition to this survey, I will do random collections of data based on off-task student behavior. I will randomly select five minute time periods during writing on paper and using Edmodo and tally the number of incidents of off-task behavior. I will do several samples of each and see if there is a noticeable difference.

For parents, I will have them complete a survey mid-year and at the end of the year. On each survey, I will have them respond to the following questions:

• How often do you use Edmodo to monitor your child’s progress in school or communicate with the teacher?
• Response choices: once or more a day, a few times a week, once a week, 2-3 times a month, once a month, once a semester, I don’t use it
• Compared to previous years, do you feel more informed about your child’s academic progress because of Edmodo?
• Response choices: More informed, less informed, about the same (w/optional comments section)
• How do you think Edmodo has changed your child’s educational experience?
• Response choices: It has enhanced it, It has taken away from it, There has been no change (w/optional comments section)

I will not use Edmodo to collect the parent data since it may skew the results towards parents who like and regularly use Edmodo. Rather, I will do a paper and pencil survey so all parents have equal opportunity to respond.

Additionally, for students, I may give them a short survey about their experience in using Edmodo. The survey questions that will be asked are

• I prefer to use Edmodo to complete assignments rather than on paper. (Response choices: Yes, No, the Same)
• Edmodo is easy to use. (Response choices: Yes, No)
• I use Edmodo at home at least once a week (Response choices: yes, no, other: ____(comment))
• I prefer to take quizzes on Edmodo rather than on paper (Response choices: yes, no, the same)
• My favorite part of Edmodo is________________.
• My least favorite part of Edmodo is _______________.

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

If I were to complete another Wicked Problem Project, I would have explored more of the LMSs available in more detail. However, due to time constraints this was not feasible so I relied on user comparisons and reviews of the different systems. Furthermore, I was not able to gain access to Moodle through my district since it is summer vacation (our ITD Help Desk did not respond). Moodle was the one that seemed to be the most promising and I would have liked to look into it more. The reason I would have explored more LMSs is because I find that EdModo is somewhat limiting in the type of assignments that can be given to students. Assignments cannot be completed directly on the system. Rather, they have to download it, complete it, and reupload it (unless it is set up as a quiz).

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

The greatest lesson was the importance of setting up a timeline with given goals and limiting the scope of the project. The scope of my project was not such a problem, however, some of my group members were over-ambitious and found they couldn’t do nearly as much as they had planned. That being said, my project is still in the early phases of implementation and once i start having students and parents interact with the technology, I may find that I will need to scale back on what I want my students to do. This will also greatly depend on classroom laptop/computer access I will have as well as what technology students have available at home.

I think one of the easiest ways to limit the scope is by making a detailed timeline of what will be accomplished when. This needs to be done before the implementation even begins. I felt like having the timeline made my project much more doable and less overwhelming because I was simply following a template.

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

At this point in time, it is difficult to determine what I would do the same and what I would change, mainly because I have not had students or parents interact with Edmodo yet. However, one thing I might want to try in the future is one of the other LMSs so I can compare it to Edmodo. One of the more limiting features of Edmodo is how assignments can be completed on the system. I would like to explore whether other systems have more options. I think it’s important that the same LMS be used for an entire school year and not switch parents and students mid-way. That being said, implementing a new LMS will have to wait for the 2013-2014 school year.

Data Visualization Lab

My visual representation is embedded above.  You can also access it here. I played with a few of the tools. I didn't do Bubbl.us since I've used it with my students before and I wanted to try different tools. Text-to-Mindmap was too limiting for my needs since I needed to group ideas and show multiple connections between them. I found MindMeister to be a little clunky when it came to making complicated mind maps with lots of parts. I tried Mindomo. It was slightly easier to customize the positioning of ideas. However, when I wanted to spread out certain parts of the concept map layout, it limited how far I could move it. If I moved it slightly too far, it "disengaged" from the content that it was connected to.

So I went a little overboard. I decided to create a visualization of how well the fourth grade Everyday Mathematics curriculum corresponds to the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). From doing this, I found out a couple things.  I originally used the correspondence guide published by the makers of Everyday Math. By Unit 2, it became clear that they were definitely overreaching on some of the lessons. For example, a lesson on place value, they said fulfilled some of the geometry objectives of "Draw and identify lines and angles, and classify shapes by properties of their lines and angles."  I went to look for another guide and found one on a school district's PD wiki.

As I cross-referenced the lessons with the objectives, it was evident that some of the objectives are way under-represented, and thus, will require that I supplement the curriculum there. Some of the under-represented objectives included

• 4.NF.7. Compare two decimals to hundredths by reasoning about their size. Recognize that comparisons are valid only when the two decimals refer to the same whole. Record the results of comparisons with the symbols >, =, or <, and justify the conclusions, e.g., by using a visual model.
• 4.MD.5. Recognize angles as geometric shapes that are formed wherever two rays share a common endpoint, and understand concepts of angle measurement:
  • An angle is measured with reference to a circle with its center at the common endpoint of the rays, by considering the fraction of the circular arc between the points where the two rays intersect the circle. An angle that turns through 1/360 of a circle is called a “one-degree angle,” and can be used to measure angles.
  • An angle that turns through n one-degree angles is said to have an angle measure of n degrees.  
• 4.G.3. Recognize a line of symmetry for a two-dimensional figure as a line across the figure such that the figure can be folded along the line into matching parts. Identify line-symmetric figures and draw lines of symmetry.