USEiT Study

I've spent the past few day pouring over a series of reports that are part of the Use, Support and Effect of Instructional Technology Study in an effort to determine how technology use is being studied and to gather insight into conducting my own survey of technology use within my district.  I've decided that this particular study will serve as a model for my own because of the similarity in purpose and the method of investigation, specifically for phase one of USEiT study which dealt simply with documenting the classroom uses of technology and support. 

Although the scale of this study and the technical aspects involved in the data analysis are intimidating, what I have been able to understand from the study has helped me to clarify my own research questions, focus the scope of my thesis, and understand how an instrument is designed and implemented. As a result, my own study will still focus primarily on teacher use of technology but will be expanded to include factors related to technology use.

What I have found disappointing in terms of the technical aspect of the study was a failure to mention the specific sources used to determine the factors related to technology use and why those factors are important to examine. 

Notes continued...

What Teachers Are Saying (2006 Survey)

Although I'm naturally skeptical of a study whose findings so neatly coincide with the business objectives of the large company who sponsored the Teachers Talk Tech survey, there is still much in this study that is relevant to my thesis. 

Both the purpose and the goals of this survey, i.e. learning  "how k-12 teachers use computers in their jobs" in order to "help communities make academic choices" are quite similar to my own thesis, so examining which questions were asked and how provided some guidance and understanding into my own project.

Although there is little within the report besides the findings, I found it interesting to note that the majority of questions focused on teacher attitudes and beliefs (which are often linked with use) and teacher skill level or training, as opposed to specific uses by teachers or barriers to use. So, although the actual results were not very informative, knowing that factors such as professional development, teacher's attitudes and beliefs, and their confidence and skill level are being considered when examining technology use is helpful. I would have been curious to understand specifically why the question used were chosen and the literature that guided the report, but I suppose that will have to be left for later lit reviews.

Notes Continued...

Easy to learn, a lifetime to master…

Authoring tools for creating multimedia instructional content have come a long way since the early days of complex scripting and programing languages that required multiple Ph.D's in computer science to create even the simplest of learning objects. Today's powerful software tools such as Web Expressions, Adobe Captivate, Flash, Moodle, iLife and more have helped simplify this complex process, and have made it if not exactly easy, at least within the realm of possibility for even rather ordinary teachers (and let's not forget students) to create engaging and exciting digital content for the purpose of learning.

As toolbars, icons, menus, plugins, import, export, text editors and graphical user interfaces make it increasingly easier for users to work with such powerful tools, the real difficulty that emerges is deciding how the use of such tools will support student learning. Should teachers or student be creating the content? Do these tools support constructivist or "instructivist" learning? Which models fit with which tool and which combination will meet which curricular goals? With the technical barriers to authoring tools rapidly crumbling away, we can begin to focus less on how to use such tools begin to focus on the more important question: why?

How to Eat Fried Worms

Ingredients: 50 whole dollar bills, 15 ripe earthworms, 4 young boys, 1 disgusting dare

Combine all ingredients into a small book, carefully mix with witty dialogue, stir in unforgettable characters, add a dash of nausea, a pinch of mischief and generously sprinkle with humorous chapters. Let stand for fifteen days, remove from bookshelf and enjoy in large helpings.

How to Eat Fried Worms is a recipe for fun, laughter and possibly an upset stomach. However, it is sure to please even the pickiest of young readers who are reluctant to try new things and tend to stick with those familiar authors or their favorite series.

The fun begins when a conversation over last night’s dinner of salmon casserole and one of the boy’s refusal to eat even two bites of it (yuck!), turns into a contest of I’d eat anything for enough money. Well, it turns out $50 is enough and anything happens to be fifteen worms. One worm a day for fifteen days which adds up to some disgusting concoctions, some devious scheming, and a whole lot of arguing.

The book is filled with such remarkably realistic adolescent behavior that you being to wonder if these kids might happen to be neighbors of yours. Billy, the main character and recipient of 15 worms challenge, is drawn by the author with all the thoughts, actions, and unique characteristics that make for a believable character and one children can connect with easily.

More than just a book about four boys and a slightly disgusting premise, How to Eat Fried Worms is sure to please young readers and older readers who remember their favorite book from fourth grade.

Super Moodle

Knowledge-building, communities of practice, learning networks, collaborative learning, cognitive apprenticeships, situated/problem/inquiry/thematic/case-based learning; whatever constructivist learning model you subscribe to, the mild-mannered Moodle has the tools within to unleash power of the super e-learning environment.

For those of you new to Moodle, a moodle is a learning management system used to create, deliver and manage online instructional content. Traditionally, using online tools made the integration of instructional models and methods a managerial nightmare. Tools such as Filimentality and Edheads made it easier for student to explore content; while social tools such as PBwiki, Gaggle, and Edublogs made it possible for students to carry discussions and collaborate beyond the classroom. But the dawn of the LMS has now made it possible to integrate these these kinds of tools (blogs, wikis, chat, forums, email, RSS, etc) into a single learning environment. To help illustrate this point, I've set up a demonstration site to showcase of some of the capabilities of Moodle.

Theories and models aside, most of us spend our time in the realm of instructional strategies, while these theories and models inhabit the shadowy recesses of our brains, unconsciously guiding the actions and strategies we choose. So what kinds of instructional strategies would be appropriate to Moodle? Big question. I've been toying with some ideas lately and here are some things I've come up with so far:

• Role Play- Using the blogging tool to have students create diary entries of historical figures as part of a social studies unit on American history


• Reflection- using the discussion forum to facilitate interclassroom bookclubs


• Articulation- creating wiki encyclopedia entires to share new knowledge and link ideas across the course


• Exploration- using a links directory to let student explore content as part of a webquest


• Collaboration- using the workshop module to allow student to peer assess writing pieces using a rubric

Those are just a few general ideas I've come up with so far. Feel free to add to the list if you have any bright ideas that I can steal borrow.

Flush! The Scoop on Poop

Who could resist such a terribly tempting tale on the topic of toiletry? (Or a lengthy alliteration for that matter?) In the grown-up world, books on how everyday household edibles like salt, soda, chocolate, potatoes and even the olive have shaped cultures and civilizations throughout the ages are as common as single-ply toilet paper. So why not a book about the final destination of all of these digestible goodies? And who better to appreciate such a history than kids?!!

"Flush" spirals children through the ages from the time before toilet paper to today's self flushing potties. Along the way kids will discover some downright disgusting dirt on the the story behind doody. They'll learn why kings and queen avoid castle moats, why umbrellas were good on a medieval sunny day, and how differently the business is done depending on where you live.

As you might have already guessed, this scoop on poop is filled with some very amusing and colorful illustrations that please the eye if not the senses. Told entirely in verse, the clever rhymes and rhythmic pace will make the contents of this history a little easier to digest. There is just this one caveat to parents though, "Flush" might make an excellent bathroom reader but should probably steer clear of the other coffee table books to avoid contamination.

Finally, as a sample of just how enjoyable this book can be, my friend and I put together this song from the book on the "Uses of Urine". Enjoy!!

A Tale of Two Models

"It was the best of designs, it was the worst of designs." As if instructional design isn't already as mind-boggling as a Dicken's novel, there exists yet another acronym in the world of ID to add to the all popular ADDIE model for developing and implementing instruction. The ILDF, or Integrative Learning Design Framework, is supposedly "a systematic yet flexible process for designing and developing online learning." In reality, it's merely an ADDIE with a numerical twist.

Savage Inequalities

"Savage" is the only word that can begin to describe the system of education portrayed in Jonathon Kozol's 1991 ground breaking work, Savage Inequalities. Often compared to Upton Sinclair's infamous exposé on the dehumanizing and substandard working conditions of the meat packing industry, Kozol's work takes us deep inside many of America's urban school districts and shows us conditions that are equally dehumanizing and substandard. As we listen to individual voices of America's students and begin to see the miserable conditions many have learned to accept unconditionally, Kozol forces us to question some of the fundamental principles of equality and justice upon which our country was founded and our system of education depends.

In the land of plenty, it seems improbable that so many schools throughout our country could go without the basic necessities required for even an "adequate" education. And yet, as Kozol takes us on a field trip to urban classrooms across America, we find children forced to share discarded textbooks, perform schoolwork with non-existent materials, use dilapidated and often dangerous facilities, and learn from a merry-go-round of substitute teachers with little or no investment in their students' futures. Contrasted against the bleak and miserable conditions are the schools within elite city pockets or neighboring suburbs, schools in many cases just a stone throw away, where resources abound and the quality of education is considerably higher. These savage inequalities are sad reminders that not only can such disparity exist, but that separate and unequal public school systems can be found co-existing side by side.

Beyond simply describing material inequities, Kozol explores issues such as federal court rulings, state funding, and local administrative decisions that have either indirectly impacted school equality or have been directly responsible for creating an uneven playing field for millions of students. What surprises and often enrages the reader throughout this book are some of the arguments made for refusing to take action to raise the level of education in these neglected school districts; arguments such as those made by business leaders in the community who consider children of urban schools as poor "economic investments," arguments made by political leaders against providing urban schools with equitable resources, or an argument made by a Supreme Court Justice who states that education "is not among the rights afforded explicit protection under our Federal Constitution."

Despite Kozol's fluid writing and engaging subject matter, his work is a difficult read because of the emotions his material stirs and the feeling that to continue reading is to accept a social responsibility that would simply be easier to ignore. And yet, this is all the more reason that a book like Savage Inequalities needs to be read, for it is one of those rare books that harshly awakens the conscience from its peaceful slumber and refuses to let it sleep again.

Hypertext Bad for Learning?

I came across some interesting and even surprising research findings today in a review of the literature from Dabbagh's Online Learning citing a number of studies related to hypertext and hypermedia. Among other things, they found that depending on the order, amount, and support, hyperrtext can have a negative impact on student learning.

eLearning: Intrinsically Constructivist?

Wow, "intrinsically constructivist", that's a phrase I've never used before, and perhaps even a Google stumper. I've been reading in Online Learning this week about the "roles and competencies" of learners and instructors in traditional vs. eLearning settings. Hence the mind map above I've adapted from Dabbagh's adaptation of McLoughlin and Oliver's table on the "contrasting roles and discourse" in T vs. eLearning. And as these roles in chapter 2 unfolded, so did the pedagogical models that followed. Which led to an interesting question: is there something intrinsic in traditional face-to-face and eLearning environments that naturally leads the former to an objectivist approach and the latter to a more constructivist approach?

Blink*

What's faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a quad-core processor, and able to leap to conclusions in a single bound? Your brain, apparently. Malcolm Gladwell's foray into the region of the brain and it's superhuman capacity to judge, reason, decide, and identify, all in the Blink of an eye, make for a compelling narrative that's able to sustain the brain's attention throughout the length of the book.

Gladwell's journalistic prowess is readily apparent as he assembles a variety of sources ranging from pop culture to empirically based research that demonstrate the power of thinking without thinking, and in some cases the danger of thinking too much. Some startling illustrations from the book are a researcher who can accurately predict a couple's likelihood of divorce based on just minutes of conversation, a high-tech billion dollar military machine defeated by a Vietnam vet, and a whole category of musicians judged solely on their gender. Gladwell also introduces us the concept of "thin slicing", or our ability to sift through a massive amount of past experience in a split second, to reach conclusions that seem like irrational intuition but can prove to be as effective as that rational methods of science.

So is it just intuition or is it really thinking without thinking? Everyday we make split second decisions; whether we're deciding between hard shell or soft, sizing up our best friend's new date, or navigating a baffling network web links for information on obscure movie trivia, our brains are actively analyzing information that has been finely tuned from the vast database of our personal knowledge. And all so quickly that we're frequently unaware that we've even had time to think, as if it's some thoughtless reflex. However, Gladwell's examples from the world of cognitive psychology, market research and neuroscience have helped reveal the inner thinker inside us all and develop an appreciation for the hunches we so often rely on.

Rural Librarians Can 2.0?

Can today's small town libraries keep up to date with today's increasingly tech savvy patrons? Bill Gates seems to think so. I recently had the opportunity to attend the Gates foundation funded Rural Librarians Conference in the beautifully cherry-blossomed town of Traverse City, Michigan. This was the final conference among the 50 states that brought together hundreds of rural librarians to share, brainstorm, discuss and workshop there way into updating their libraries to version 2.0.

eLearning: The Great Equalizer?

"Yeah, but what about the face-to-face interaction? E-learning is too impersonal!"

This is perhaps one of the most common responses I hear when I've eavesdropped on educators discussing online learning. And it's true. Despite the potential for incorporating live video (face-to-face), or even voice over Internet protocols (ear-to-ear), my own experience in the Ed. Tech online Master's Program and with online environments in public schools has shown that these tools are rarely incorporated as part of the learning experience. The result can often be an impersonal and isolating experience.