EDLD 5366 Final Reflection

Plato wrote in The Republic that “necessity is the mother of invention.” (Plato, 369 BC) While this continues to ring true in the digital age, I believe an update is needed. After working with web 2.0 tools, researching multimedia in the classroom, and thinking about integrating collaborative, connected technologies in the k-12 classroom, I have determined that reflection is the mother of innovation.  The invention of web 2.0 tools gave birth to new methodologies for teaching and learning.

Prior to the integration of web 2.0 tools, teachers and students toiled away in isolation. The lone teacher lectured individual students who determined on their own what to do with information they received.  Students and Teachers were connected by content on a rudimentary level. Teachers taught; students learned, period. Solomon and Schrum (2007) argue that “Web 2.0 signals a transition from isolation to interconnectedness. The tools allow multiple users to participate.” (p.13) The increase in participation in constructing knowledge brought about by incorporating web 2.0 tools connects teacher and student at a deeper level.  I have always had issues with the teacher-directed learning model, now I believe it to be ineffective and at times detrimental to student learning.

As I reflect on my own learning process during this course, I realized the importance of purpose, and how purpose determined the extent of my connection to content. When I tailored the assignment to meet a need, I spent more time engaged in learning. I went out and actively searched the web for solutions to problems that arose, and actively constructed meaningful learning. Web 2.0 tools not only connected me with resources, but also with a community of learners. Collaborating with a team using available technology gave purpose to learning and made learning relevant. The ability to communicate, problem-solve and think critically afforded by using web 2.0 tools greatly enhanced my learning experience by engaging in a common purpose with diverse individuals.

My outlook on learning changed during this course. While I understood learning collaboratively and actively teach my own students the process of connected, reflective learning, I still often preferred to learn on my own. As a young student, I never really cared for “group work.” I never was taught the necessary skills nor did I see the purpose. As I reflect on the experience of collaborating on the website during this course, I realize how much I learned from my collaborators and the power of connected learning. I think our final product evidences the relevance of connected learning via the web.

This experience confirmed the importance of, according to North Central Regional Educational Laboratory, “bridging the gap between how students live and how they learn” (Soloman & Schrum p.19). I believe it is absolute necessary to design learning experiences rooted in 21^st Century Skills. We live in an interconnected world where knowledge is literally at our fingertips and experts a click, tap or swipe away. Learning opportunities are not confined by time, space or location. The invention of web 2.0 tools facilitates the acquisition and dissemination of knowledge interactively, promotes the use of higher-order thinking skills, and meets learners where they live – in a digital, connected world. 

Reaching learners requires educators to be innovative in the use of new tools for learning. Possibilities for creating and presenting content in novel engaging ways has never been greater and is unlikely to diminish. In a research study funded by BrainPOP LLC, SEG Research found that web 2.0 tools take “advantage of multimodal [brain] processing capability . . . and dramatically enhance student learning through multimedia instruction” (SEG, 2008 p.1). This is the greatest take-a-way for me, and what will influence my pedagogical decisions going forward.  As I completed the work for this course, the majority of my time on task was spent using higher-order thinking skills indentified by Loren Anderson in his update of Howard Bloom’s Taxonomy to analyze, evaluate and create (Churches, 2008).  In a digital world it is necessary to engage learners in their learning and thinking. The invention of web 2.0 tools facilitates engagement in learning and the construction of knowledge.  Implementing these tools requires the educator to engage with them in a purposeful way. Reflecting on the process of learning, evaluating and creating with web 2.0 tools spawns innovative learning opportunities for students.

Resources

Plato (380 BC) The Republic.  Athens, Greece:

Solomon, Gwen & Schrum, Lynne (2007) web 2.0 new tools, new schools. Eugene, Oregon: International Society for Technology in Education

SEG Research (2008) Understanding Multimedia Learning: Integrating multimedia in the K-12 Classroom.  New Hope, Pennsylvania: http://www.brainpop.com/new_common_images/files/76/76426_BrainPOP_White_Paper-20090426.pdf

Churches, Andrew (2008, April 1). Bloom’s Taxonomy Blooms Digitally [Web log post] Retrieved from http://www.techlearning.com/studies-in-ed-tech/0020/blooms-taxonomy-blooms-digitally/44988 

Collaboration

This was an interesting week for me and one that I actually wasn't looking forward to mainly because the assignment required that I work with other people. People I don't really know well. I'm not a hermit, nor averse to working with people. It's just that I have my own ideas and have always had a desire to control my own destiny. It's not that I'm a control freak, nor driven by the "grade." As I've gotten older, I've realized the importance of learning over completing an assignment because I want a good grade. I guess I'm past that.

The big issue was that I had to be patient, communicate clearly, and, most importantly, get over on my perfectionist tendencies. This turned out to be way less of a challenge than I expected largely due to the constraints of the Google site tool. It didn't allow for too many changes without writing html, so I had to work within the boundaries. I did, believe it or not, look at the source code twice to try and figure out how to change the number of columns, but decided that since my collaborators might not appreciate my potentially creating extra work for them, and just went with it.

I enjoyed the creative aspect of this week's assignment. I have always been creative, but not necessarily artistic. I can't draw or paint but have a deep appreciate for those who can. I think I appreciate good design and the effort that goes into making something look effortless. When I was young, I wanted to be an architect and spend hours drawing plans for buildings. I still do that sometimes.

While I at first looked on this week as a real challenge, I realize that it was probably one of the best weeks I've had. I worked with some very capable, dedicated, conscientious people and I think our end product is awesome. I enjoyed collaborating with them. You can view our site by clicking the image.
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First Animation

The assignment this week in EDLD 5366 was to create an animation. I have a fascination with animation. Not to the point of dressing like a Japanese anime character, but I appreciate the effort, patience and attention to detail necessary to make an inanimate object come to life. This week working with scratch allowed me to dabble in animation and create a short multimedia presentation that I plan to use when leading professional development.

I dove right into this assignment and soon was confronted by the steepness of the learning curve for this application. Scratch is a powerful tool with many variables. Furthermore, it's a programming tool, so the sequence of commands is absolutely essential to achieving the sequence of events and actions in the characters. For someone who remembers having little success inputting Microsoft DOS commands, this development almost brought out a quick, R-rated stream of commentary. However, after a little research to find a user guide and some more trial and error, I soon began creating. To view the animation click on the scratch logo above.

Impressions of the Bible from Ethiopia

What struck me immediately upon viewing the Bible from Ethiopia was how innate the principals of design are to human communication. As I clicked through the pages, I could see examples of contrast, repetition, alignment and proximity on nearly every page.

I immediately noticed the use of contrast to add visual interest and vibrancy to the images. On each page complementary colors were used to create detailed illustrations that drew my attention. Shades of orange, red, yellow paired with opposite shades of green and blue to convey the mood and feeling of the text. This was especially noticeable on the Crucifixion page. The colors spoke loudly as they told the story of the Jewish people and Christianity from Abraham through the life of Jesus and on through His disciples. Contrast is also evidenced in the text through the use of red to highlight passages.

This image of the 12 apostles from the Bible of Ethiopia shows
the use of contrast, repetition, alignment and proximity.
image http://kootation.com/british-library-add-ms-59874-ethiopian-bible-jpg-wikimedia-commons.html

I also immediately noticed the repetition of certain visual elements not only in the design of the book but the structure of the text as well. In each illustration, repeated visual elements and colors are used to carry the story forward as well as identify characters.

A two column alignment is used throughout the text to break up the text and make it more readable. The illustrations also evidence alignment through the use of symmetry. Symmetry is visually predictable and helps focus the eye on details. The illustration shown on this page shows how symmetry works to focus on details. Even without being able to read the text, it is clear who is being portrayed in this illustration and, possibly, identify each disciple.

Finally, proximity is used to link the text to the illustrations and within the illustrations to effectively communicate the message. More importantly, the concept of proximity is used to convey feelings about what is occurring on the page. I believe this is especially true in the background colors. As the story progresses, color is used to unify the illustrations and generate emotions in the viewer. Dark backgrounds are used in illustrations depicting sadness, grief, strife; light backgrounds are used to depict joy, enlightenment, hope. Using these colors in proximity to the message creates a relationship between words and pictures that creates emotions in the person viewing the text.

It is fascinating that the principals of design still used today are rooted in the 15th century, when this bible was first written.

Time for Action (Research)

After five weeks of fairly intensive study (it is summer vacation after all), I think I've got a handle on what action research is, why it's an important part of growing as an educator, how to go about developing a project, and when to begin my project. Over the last few weeks, I have come to understand action research as a necessary function of an administrator; and the importance of administrators becoming "role models for the teachers and students in their building. A critical belief about learning is ownership. Learning must be something teachers and students do, not something that others do to or for them."1 Engaging in action research is imperative in order to prepare for the "crucial role of the principal as head learner of the schoolhouse."2 I think I'm ready to take ownership of my action research project and get started.

As I worked through the exercises and developed my action research plan, I realized that taking on the role of lead learner wasn't all that difficult. I have always been curious about education and the role of educators, primarily due to the fact that education is not my first career field. It has always struck me as odd that the enterprise of education allows policies that affect it to be largely dictated by outside sources. The more I learned about action research, the more I realized how this process of inquiry and developing studies based on "wonderings" puts the impetus for change in the hands of those most connected to the effect of the change being proposed. It just makes sense to have the person responsible for the myriad of challenges present in a school be the one leading the inquiry and, by extension, the learning, instead of waiting for someone outside of the enterprise to come in and solve problems. Action research doesn't have to be difficult to be meaningful, but leading without meaningful action research would be a challenge.

During this course, my concept of research changed. I previously thought that research was based solely on the data - and then only on statistical, numerical, quantifiable data. I now understand that in action research the most important word is not research but action. As Dr. Johnny Briseno said, "numbers don't tell the whole story." It's also important to look at "how student environment affects learning outcome." Engaging in action research is important to the growth of an administrator because it requires attention to the "soft" data, and in doing so grounds the administrator in what is truly important - what is best for creating an environment dedicated to student learning. Conducting research as a precursor to action or adjunct to implementing a program contributes to my growth and development as an educator.

Contributing factors combined with inquiry lead to developing an action research project. I found that when I initially began thinking about what to research, I had an unrealistic idea about what I was going to prove. As the course continued into the final weeks, I realized that less is more and the process of conducting action research may, in many ways, be more valuable than the product. I came to this realization after listening to Dr. Steve Jenkins discuss the purpose of action research and read about Quality Indicator 2 in Leading with Passion and Knowledge. Both Dr. Jenkins and Nancy Fichtman Dana talk about the importance of developing a study that is focused yet flexible enough to adapt to changing conditions and sufficiently feasible and reasonable to be completed. These two resources convinced me to scale back my research and focus not on proving my hypothesis, but on implementing a program focused on student learning.

Now it is time to begin my action research project. I have reasonable, feasible plan set on a realistic timeline. I have anticipated the obstacles that may lay ahead and elicited the help of colleagues to overcome them. My project has a purpose tied to student learning. While I haven't developed the data collection instruments yet, I now have a good idea of what they should contain and how to collect data that is meaningful, applicable, and transferable. For me, the past five weeks defined and clarified my new purpose as an educator - an agent for change through engaging in action research.



1 Fitchman Dana, Nancy (2009). Administrator Inquiry Defined. Leading with Passion and Knowledge: The Principal as Action Researcher (12) Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press
2 Barth, Roland (1990) quoted in Leading with Passion and Knowledge: The Principal as Action Researcher (186) Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press

Action Research Update

I realized this week as I reviewed my action research plan that I bit off more than I could chew and needed to adjust the scope of the study. Today I met with my site supervisor and we decided to limit the participating grades to first and second for a couple of reasons.

• Since our building does not qualify for any Title I money, we do not currently have an interventionist for these grades. We do have a teacher for third and fourth grade. Kindergarten has an aide that serves two classrooms. The need is greatest for first and second grades, so we decided to focus there in this study. Based purely on need, we agreed to limit the study to students in first and second grades.
• The second reason has mostly to do with scheduling a building with 900+ students. Trying to schedule intervention time and specials (art, music, library, p.e., computer, Spanish) dictated a smaller study.

Overall, the study remains essentially the same and should provide information to inform decisions for the following year. We reached a consensus on the apps that needed to be installed on the iPads to collect data and on the need for meeting with the aides prior to the school year to address their perceptions of the research project. 

One of the issues we discussed is how to manage the change for the teachers in first and second grades and for the instructional aides. We discussed using force field analysis with the affected teachers as a means of gaining their support. As far as the aides are concerned, the greatest issue to overcome is their perceived value to the school. Currently the perception is that they don't feel valued. To address this we talked about creating a professional atmosphere through mentoring, accountability, inclusion in planing time with teachers and creating a physical space for interventions as a means to "professionalize" their purpose in the school community.

Weak 3 Reflection

No, I meant to do that. I've typed so much that my fingers are weak. So's my brain. I've spent more time thinking about all the little details in an action research plan, I wonder if my plan makes any sense, especially since planning is not my strong suit.

It's not that I don't plan, it's just that my plans are usually big picture and flexible. I justify my method of planning due to the changeability of a group of seven year olds. And since I've become a one-to-one classroom, planning has become more of an exercise in anticipation. I think we're going to do this today because we're supposed to; however, in reality, sometimes things come up and I'd be doing my kids a disservice if we didn't explore what's got their interest. I'll find a standard to match it to later. Did I mention that they are seven?

So, I'm ready to spend a day recharging and prepping for week 4. It's hard to believe that this course in half over. It has definitely been a sprint and not a marathon. I hope my fingers and brain can make two more laps.