Following the ASSURE model, I surveyed my students prior to beginning my unit of instruction. I was very surprised to learn that more than three-quarters of them have access to both internet and devices other than smart phones that they can access at home. In the class I chose to teach this unit, all but three students out of twenty have internet access at home, and every student has a smart phone. One frustration not only for this unit, but for integration of technology in education is this disparity in available internet access and devices students have or do not have at home. This disparity makes it all the more important that I provide my students with learning experiences that are rich in technology so that they can master the twenty-first century skills that they will need to succeed in future education and employment.
Initially, I thought this would be a unit focused upon students creating a presentation using Google Slides. I wanted to use Google Slides because I assumed that most students had already used Power Point and could build upon their experience to transition to learning Google Slides. That assumption turned out to be wrong, as my pre-survey indicated that half a dozen of my students have never used Power Point. This surprised me, as ten years ago students knew more about Power Point than I did. I have noticed in the past years that students seem to be arriving to high school with fewer computer skills than they used to, and I wonder why this is happening when it is obvious that students need these skills. I don’t know if it is the pressure of standardized testing-which doesn’t require technology skills-or something else, but I hope that this trend will be reversed soon.
As I began to design the unit, it quickly transformed into a unit to teach research skills: evaluating digital resources, avoiding plagiarism, paraphrasing & summarizing, recording and citing digital sources. This shift came about for two reasons. First, while examining the English Language Arts standards, I was reminded of just how extensive the research standards are. Second, the pre-unit survey revealed that my students were lacking in many of the discrete skills that make up the skill set we call research.
In the past, I had shied away from teaching research for that very reason. In a technical high school, academic teachers have ninety days with students, roughly half as much time as students in traditional high schools. Shifts in curricula, changes in testing, and changes in society itself have made it apparent that my students need solid research skills. But even as recent as last year, I felt uncomfortable taking so much teaching time away from American literature, the core of our grade eleven English curriculum, to teach research skills.
The readings for this unit finally drove home a reality that I have understood but not truly owned. Research skills are every bit as essential as anything else in my curriculum, and probably even more essential. As Kleiman points out, business leaders “are concerned that their job applicants have strong skills in literacy, numeracy, and problem solving; know how to gather, organize, and analyze information; communicate well; work successfully in collaborative teams; and be able to learn effectively” (2001). With the exception of numeracy, I can strengthen students’ skills in all of these areas, theoretically preparing them for future employment, by teaching them how to conduct research responsibly and report on findings.
Another surprise during the course of teaching this unit came from the availability of time in our shared computer lab as well as availability of class sets of chrome books. When I checked the library media center schedule for the weeks I planned to implement the unit, I was happy to find that the computer lab was available on all but one day. On the days that the lab was not available, I was able to reserve twenty chrome books for my students. My students were able to easily use both the desktop computers and the chrome books, something I originally had some concerns about.
In the beginning, I anticipated standing in front of the class more, teaching mini-lessons, demonstrating the videos and activities I embedded for my students in their Google Classroom. However, I found that the students did not need me to act as director of the class when they were using the online learning platform. They very quickly developed the habit of beginning class by logging into Google Classroom and picking where the left off the day before. When they had questions, they got my attention, and I was able to address their questions individually. I was free to move about and troubleshoot, redirect, and check for understanding.
Learning to pace working time was a bit tricky; I didn’t have a warm up and a closure for every day, because some of the lessons took longer than I had anticipated. It was important to have a plan for students who finished their work before the other students. I wonder, though, if it would really be so terrible for students to progress to the next lesson if they demonstrate proficiency with current lesson skills. Ideally, students will become better at learning independently, eventually working at their own pace through an entire unit rather than needing me to rein them in at the end of every lesson. At the same time, students who need reteaching or reinforcement of current skills would be able to work at their own pace as well, ensuring mastery of essential skills for all students, just not all at the same time.
My students quickly began working far more independently than they have this year. When they watched the video workshop on avoiding plagiarism, I directed them to take notes as they watched the videos. They took more detailed notes independently than they do when I stand up and guide them through a video or power point. I think that they are beginning to own their own learning, to push themselves not for a grade, but to learn something new.
I wondered if each student having his or her own device caused them to feel more responsible for their own work, or if it was the novelty of learning with the technology that was motivating them. I observed that students were depending less upon me as the source of knowledge, and they were beginning to depend more upon themselves to learn. Rather than relying on me to create understanding for them, they were creating understanding for themselves.
One of the days that I was scheduled to use the chrome books in my classroom because the computer lab in the library media center was already booked, the library media specialist informed me that the math teachers had an urgent need for the chrome books. As a team player, I bowed to the math department, knowing that most of my students were finishing up the paraphrasing section and moving on to the summarizing section. I thought it would be not disrupt student learning too terribly if I simply used the Smart Board to demo the summarizing lesson and lead practice for the whole class.
I was more than a little surprised to see how much student engagement dropped as a result of this change. While the usual reliable members of class stayed right with me, enough students were disengaged to a degree that caused me more than a little concern. The level of engagement today was about the same as it had been prior to using the technology, which is to say that an acceptable number of students were paying very close attention to the lesson, with a handful of students paying little or no attention. One hundred percent engagement is what we want, but if we are honest, it is a difficult percentage to achieve day after day.
If the only difference lies in delivery method: that is, students independently accessing instructional videos and completing practice exercises versus students watching the videos as a whole class and then working together to complete practice exercises, then I have to believe that for these particular skills, the technology is more effective in ensuring one hundred percent engagement and one hundred percent of students completing practice exercises. Granted, this does not ensure mastery of the skill; however, when students are learning independently, I have ample opportunities to informally assess student work, correct misunderstandings, clarify confusion, and ensure mastery.
Using technology as I have been with this class my role is no longer as the source of knowledge in the classroom. The internet takes my place as the source of knowledge. I act more as a guide, directing my students to websites where they will engage in activities that will lead to their acquiring new skills. I don’t set them on this path and then abandon them; I walk beside them, because I want to make sure they master the lesson content and skills.
Two other benefits have emerged from this way of integrating technology into my teaching. First, I am not as exhausted. Rather than trying to control and direct twenty young minds all at the same time, I work with one or two at a time, wherever they happen to be in the learning unit. They are controlling and directing themselves, in a sense. The second benefit is that students ask more questions about both content and skills. This is, I think, because they do not have to interrupt a lecture, or wait for me to finish what I am saying to ask their questions. Additionally, they ask their questions one on one, rather than shouting them out for the whole class to hear. The quieter students have a louder voice in this model of teaching, a third benefit of using technology to support instruction.
Overall, the students have adapted swiftly to the technologies we are using. Just yesterday, one student showed me how to create a split screen in order to watch an instructional video and take notes digitally at the same time. After he showed me how to do it, I was able to demonstrate to the class, using the Smart Board, how he had done this. I noticed that about half of the class quickly created split screens for themselves, without needing further help. Students have also learned how to take online quizzes, using the chrome book, or computer, or smart phone, with Quiz Star. In the area of technology, students’ skills in accessing Google Classroom and using Google Docs have greatly improved through repeated use.
There have been times during this project when I have forgotten I am teaching juniors, and had to remind myself that these students were sophomores just a few months ago. They are so focused on their work, and so self-directed when they have the screen in front of them that I have not had behavioral issues or problems with work not being completed. The students do talk with one another as they work, but it is not so much idle chatter as it is discussion of a tech point, how to do something on the computer, or else students are discussing the practice exercises, which is actually an activity I encourage. I speculate that this may be because the responsibility for learning and for completing the exercises rests upon the shoulders of each student, not on me, and this is such a competitive class. No one wants to finish last!
Using the ASSURE model in conjunction with the pedagogical cycle I was able to design an effective unit to teach research skills. Integrating the standards had led me to lose sight of the basic essentials of lesson planning: pre-unit assessment, motivational warm ups – the importance of preparing the learner for the instruction. Maybe it is because I get so excited about what I want to teach, but is not enough for me to be excited about the lesson; I need to find ways to get my students excited about learning.
Using the ASSURE model along with the framework of the pedagogical cycle I was able to create a comprehensive unit to teach my students the basics of research. The unit has become very long, because as gaps in knowledge have come to my attention, I have been able to easily add new instruction to our Google Classroom. I no longer worry about how long the instruction is taking, because I know that these are essential skills for my twenty-first century students. The time spent on this unit is quality learning time, thus time very well spent.
What students need to learn comes first. Technology comes next, as a support to instruction, to be used when it “affords significant educational advantage” (Wiske). This concept is not brand new to me, but I think I understand it better now than when I began this project. Educators should exercise caution when integrating technology, to ensure that they are not putting the cart before the horse by using technologies that entertain students but do not support instruction. Technology in education can be motivational without being entertaining, as I have witnessed this past week and a half. When technology is carefully chosen to support students in attaining the desired learning outcomes, the result can be very powerful.
Since beginning this unit, students have been able to demonstrate proficiency during practice exercises. The real proof of skills mastery will come when they begin the research project that culminates this unit. I am hopeful that students will be able to apply the unit skills to conduct research effectively, then create a presentation to share what they learn.
I have become more proficient with Google Classroom as a result of this unit. I still have much to learn, but I can easily create assignments, add internet videos, create Google Slide presentations and upload them as parts of assignments. I am also learning how to find work that students submit through Google Classroom, which sounds as though it would be an easy thing, but is not! I also learned how to use Quiz Star. I created my class in Quiz Star, registering all of my students, and creating user names and passwords for them. Then I wrote two quizzes. I was happy not to have to make paper copies, and my students actually didn’t complain about taking a quiz. I am planning to use Quiz Star frequently as a quick assessment tool. Thanks to Joe C., my tech savvy student, I further learned how to create and use a split screen in Google Docs.
More importantly, my students are also becoming proficient with Google Classroom and with Google Docs. I have observed students using split screens to watch videos and take notes, watching videos on their phones while taking notes in Google Docs on the computer – or vice versa. On the day that we had to use the Smart Board and work as a whole class, I first reprimanded students for having their phones out…then I remembered that they take their notes in Google Docs on their smart phones! I quickly fixed my error and allowed the phones.
Students have downloaded Google Classroom and Google Docs onto their Smart Phones and practiced submitting completed assignments through Google Classroom as well as G-mail. They have taken online quizzes using Quiz Star. And next academic cycle, students will complete this unit by learning BibMe and Google Slides during the remainder of this unit. They will also be working in teams, using Google Classroom to communicate and collaborate in order to complete their projects.
I just found out today that there is a Microsoft app called EasyBib that I may be able to download to student computers…I wonder if it will be more effective during research than BibMe, which I was planning to use. The most important lesson I have learned about using technology in education is this: technology changes, and it changes fast. If I am going to use technology to support my instruction, then I need to keep learning!
References
Kleiman, G. Myths and Realities about Technology in K-12 Schools. Retrieved 10/14/15 from
http://www.sfu.ca/educ260/documents/myths.pdf
Wiske, S. A New Culture of Teaching for the 21st Century. Retrieved 10/14/15 from