Friday, May 1, 2015
Technology Integration Project
The following are links to my Technology Integration Project for ETEC 562, Spring 2015. Enjoy!
Wednesday, April 29, 2015
Article Review #3
Article Title:
Student Engagement in Blended Learning Environments with
Lecture-Based and Problem-Based Instructional Approaches
APA Citation:
Omer Delialioglu. (2012). Student engagement in blended
learning environments with lecture-based and problem-based instructional approaches. Journal
of Educational Technology & Society, 15(3), 310-n/a.
Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1287025353?accountid=7083
Review:
This article outlines a study aimed at examining how the
“blending of different instructional approaches with technology affects
students’ engagement” in the learning process. As part of the study, students
participated in a “computer networks course” that was designed as a
“lecture-based blended learning environment” for the first eight weeks of a
semester. For the eight weeks after that, the course was presented as a
“problem-based blended learning environment”. The goal of the experiment was to
attempt to determine if student engagement was affected by the differing
instructional approaches. According to the article, in recent years, there has
been a decline in student satisfaction from education which is resulting in
negative experiences for students, low achievement rates, and even increased
withdrawals from schools. While there are numerous factors that can affect student
achievement or engagement and some are not always within the control of the
instructor or teacher, educators do have control over their instructional
approaches. The article states that “the combination of face-to-face and online
learning environments gave rise to a new learning environment called blended
learning environments”(Omer, 2012, p. 311). At the beginning of the article
there is a discussion as to the previous findings from studies conducted to
examine the effects of blended learning environments. There is mention of a
study in which the goal was to understand “the role of technology as a tool to
support interaction of learners with each other and with the content in a
problem-based learning context”(Omer, 2012, p. 311). The information from this research seemed to
conclude that the use of technology to support problem-based learning
contributed to a better learning experience for students. With that in mind,
the researchers responsible for the study highlighted in this article wanted to
determine how different instructional approaches influenced the level of
student engagement in the selected learning environments.
In order to compare the level of student engagement “within
a lecture-based blended learning environment to that within a problem-based
blended learning environment”, researchers surveyed students at three different
times, over a two year period. The study took place in 2008 to 2009 at the
Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey. “Participants of the study
were 93 junior per-service computer teachers enrolled in a computer networking
course. The course was designed as a blended learning environment where
students and instructor meet weekly face-to-face and received the course
materials online”(Omer, 2012, p. 313). The major differences in the blended
learning environments presented in this class came about in the
“teaching-learning tools that were utilized”. In regards to the lecture-based
blended learning environment, students had to complete assigned readings before
class and students had to take online quizzes each week. When it came to lab
activities, students in this environment were required to do the activities in
their lab sheets. In contrast, when it came to the problem-based blended
learning environment, students were not told what they needed to read each week
or required to take weekly quizzes. Students also had not lab sheets to
complete. Instead, they compiled a report that included: “problems encountered,
own problem statement, information needed, required readings, and lists of
possible solutions”.
These were not the only differences in the two types of
blended learning environments. The classroom activities were also different
during the “face-to-face” classroom meetings. In the lecture-based approach,
the activities were as follows: “the instructor presented the content,
discussion of the content took place among the instructor and other students,
and hands-on laboratory activities were conducted” (Omer, 2012, p. 314). The
activities in the problem-based approach were as follows: “an ill-structured
case with problems related to the week’s content was provided and explained, students
were required to work in groups of two to discuss the case and determine what
they need to know, students were asked to write a problem statement and
possible solutions, as well as deliver a report with possible solutions in two
weeks”(Omer, 2012, p. 314).
At the beginning of the course, students were given an entry
survey. After completion of the lecture-based portion of the course, students
were given a student engagement survey. Students were also asked to complete
another student engagement survey at the end of the problem-based portion of
the course. These surveys were “developed by the National Survey of Student
Engagement (NSSE)” and employed five different benchmarks in an attempt to
measure student engagement. When all of the data collected from these surveys
was analyzed, it indicated that the “mean scores of engagement outcomes and
total time on task were higher in the problem-based portion of the blended
course” (Omer, 2012, p.317). Based on
these results it was concluded that “similar to previous research findings in
traditional learning environments, in blended learning environments,
problem-based learning methods engaged students with academic activities better
than lecture-based methods do” (Omer, 2012, p. 318).
Essentially, it was determined that the problem-based
learning instructional approach utilized in a blended learning environment
helped to increase student engagement in the learning process. While I suppose
the idea is not a new concept, this study helped to support the idea that the
use of this instructional approach in blended learning environments can lead to
increased student interest and engagement in the lesson being presented. I
think that this study is relevant to my teaching practice because it helps me
to understand how I can work to keep students engaged in the learning process
by incorporating more problem-based instructional approaches into my teaching
methods. It also illustrates the fact that just because technology is utilized
in a learning environment, does not automatically mean that students will be
engaged in the material being presented. Instead, it is the instructional
strategies that make the most significant impact on the learning process. There
seems to have been a shift in recent years, by teachers wanting to incorporate
more constructivist theories or
instructional strategies into their teaching practices because they feel
it is beneficial for their students to be able to construct their own meaning
in relation to the information they are learning. I feel that this study helps
to support the notion that students can work more productively and maintain a
higher level of engagement using this type of instructional strategy even in a
blended learning environment.
Wednesday, April 22, 2015
Article Review #2
Article Title:
Learning with Technology: Using Discussion Forums to Augment
a Traditional-Style Class
APA Citation:
Shana, Z. (2009). Learning with technology: Using discussion
forums to augment a traditional-style class. Journal of Educational Technology &
Society,12(3), 214-n/a.
Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1287037637?accountid=7083
Review:
This article discusses a study that was conducted in 2005
with students enrolled in a distance education course within the Educational
Technology Department at Ajman University of Science and Technology, United
Arab Emirates. In the study, a discussion forum was incorporated into a
traditional-style class and the goal was to “examine the impact of
incorporating a discussion forum on the achievement of university students”.
Two groups (one control group and one treatment group) from a total of 34
students. Each group was exposed to the same course material, as well as
teaching techniques and after four weeks, given the same exam. Afterwards, the
treatment group was given access to the use of an online discussion forum to
discuss material for the remainder of the course. While the use of technology
like online discussion forums was not really new in highly developed countries,
at the time of this study, the use of E-technologies for instruction in many
developing countries was still quite new. As a result, the students in the
study were accustomed to a “teacher-centered, traditional behaviorist
stimulus-response learning model”. Researchers wanted to determine if the
addition of technology that allowed for online discussion significantly
increased the knowledge that students attained from the online course, as well
as how it affected student attitudes. To motivate students to participate in
the study, students were asked to “respond to a weekly topic in order to gain
5% for participation”. At the conclusion of the course, all students were given
a final test in which steps were taken to help make the correct answers
difficult to recognize unless the students truly understood the material. In
addition to the test, questionnaires and interviews were also given and the
final results were evaluated. Many of the students in the study supported the
use of the discussion forum within the course for a variety of reasons. Some of
the reasons given were that it “assisted students in developing language
skills” and “reading different replies can promote new ways of thinking and help
generate new ideas”. Students also stated that “more intellectual interactions
and connections, lead to more possibilities of shared knowledge, understanding,
thinking and reflection”. According to the interview results, a majority of the
students who used the discussion forum liked the fact that it allowed for the
“interacting and sharing ideas and materials with other students and with the
instructor” and “taking exams online, turning-in and getting back assignments
with prompt feedback and grades”. Overall, approximately 93% of the students
involved in the study found the use of a discussion forum within the course to
be beneficial. The participants felt that online discussions were “more
comprehensive, lively, and gave a chance for all students to participate”.
Ultimately, the findings indicated that students who had access to the
discussion forum while completing the required coursework “showed significant
learning improvement over the course of a full semester” due to their active
participation.
Overall, I found this article to be quite interesting. I
suppose that because I have grown up with technology being routinely integrated
into my educational environment, I had not really stopped to consider how
technology integration has progressed and impacted students in other areas of
the world. I can agree with many of the points highlighted within this study
that relate to the benefits of integrating discussion forums into online courses.
The use of discussion forums exposes students to a range of different views and
ideas which can promote new ways of thinking. In addition, the format can
encourage shy students to increase their participation in class discussions and
it extends the opportunity for classroom debates to continue outside of the
allotted instruction time. In my experience using online discussion boards for
my college course, I have to say that I was able to learn a great deal from the
information that was shared and discussed by my fellow classmates. I believe
that the incorporation of discussion forums into a tradition-style learning
environment can be helpful to “reinforce skills taught/learned in a
face-to-face setting” and I think that it would be something that I would like
to implement within my future classroom using school appropriate technology.
Chapter 10 Discussion Questions
Chapter 10 Discussion
1.
What online resources are available to assist
educators in researching areas of interest? Describe some of them.
Various online resources are
available to assist educators in researching areas of interest. Online publications such as electronic
journals and articles are sites that allow users to research topics using
site-based search engines and usually offer links to related information. There
are a number of online publications accessible on the Internet. Some
publications address specific subjects, while others offer information on a
variety of topics. Online professional organizations are another resource that
can help educators in their research. Many of these organizations offer online
publications, as well as news about events and issues important to the
organization. One professional organization with an online presence that I am a
member of is the Association of Texas Professional Educators. Wikis are an
additional resource for educators to access when researching information. A
wiki is a website where content is collaboratively written so that anyone with
access to a computer and the Internet can edit or add to the information on the
site. Perhaps the largest and most popular wiki is Wikipedia. Weblogs or blogs
for short, also provide good resources for educators. Blogs are online spaces
where users can post personal thoughts or comments. Many educators create their
own blogs to share information and resources related to their profession and/or
educational experiences. RSS feeds or “Rich Site Summary” feeds are news
updates that are “continuously and automatically renewed via the web”. These
feeds can be good resources for educators as well because they allow viewers to
stay informed about information that is of interest to them or relevant to
their research. Additional online resources with often abundant sources of
information are government websites. The U.S. Department of Education site
contains information about “education news, national standards, programs,
grants, research, links to other federal agencies, and a wide variety of
publications and reports”.
2.
Post your teacher website (if you have one), in
the Webliography. How can a website help improve communications with students,
parents, and the community?
While I do not have a specific
classroom website per say, I did create a dashboard site in my last technology
course which I shared within the Webliography.
If I were to create a website for
my future classroom, I think that the tools that I used to create this site
would be beneficial. I believe that having a classroom website can improve
communications with students, parents, and the community because it opens up
communication not only between the teacher and the students, but it allows
individuals within the community to view information related to the learning activities
that are occurring within the classroom/school. On educator created websites,
teachers can post important information like rules, schedules, and homework, as
well as “communicate expectations to the parents of all students in the class”.
Using email and other resources available through a website, teachers can
communicate asynchronously with parents to discuss important matters and
student progress. Additionally, if teachers securely post access to grades and
attendance records through a website, parents can monitor student performance.
All of these elements work to create a “powerful home-school partnership”. By
allowing the community to view the website, teachers can invite members to
attend or participate in classroom events, thus helping to enhance the learning
environment.
3.
You have decided to create an electronic
learning community for your students to communicate with other students worldwide.
How would you go about doing this?
Although there are different ways
to create an electronic learning community for students, during my last course,
I discovered the site ePals. This website is a free tool that allows educators
to create a global learning community by connecting students/classrooms with
other students/classrooms around the world, thus expanding learning
opportunities. While this site is discussed briefly within the textbook
readings, my experience with the website inspired me to want to use it with my
future classroom to help create a worldwide electronic learning community for
my students. Once registered for ePals,
teachers can create accounts that allow their students to gain access to the
website. When a teacher matches his or her students with another classroom, the
students can correspond through a ePals tool known as SchoolMail 365 or the
video conferencing tool Skype, through the ePals site. Both tools allow secure
correspondence and the interaction between the students can be monitored by the
teacher. In addition to these tools, the ePals site also offers students access
to various educational learning games and websites, as well as different sites
that can be utilized for research purposes. Teachers can also create a Project
Workspace within ePals and allow students to collaboratively work on and submit
assigned projects or join and contribute to projects that other classrooms have
begun within the ePals shared project page. In general, I feel that the ePals
site is one of the easiest ways to create an electronic learning community for
students.
Tech Overview Discussion
Tech Overview Discussion
Discussion Questions come from readings in Chapter 9.
1.
What is the difference between asynchronous and
synchronous communication?
Discuss some Internet tools that fall under
each category.
Asynchronous
communication can be defined as “time-shifted” communication. In other
words, this form of communication does not happen in real time or take place
instantaneously. In terms of technology, there are several Internet tools that
are considered asynchronous tools. Perhaps one of the most popular of these
tools is electronic mail or email. Similar to postal mail, email is a “primary
communication tool on networks and on the internet” because it allows users to
send information to selected individuals to be accessed at the discretion of
the recipient. Electronic mailing lists or list serves are a related
asynchronous tool that allows email to be automatically delivered to individual
subscribers. A final tool mentioned in this category is a computer discussion
(also known as a bulletin board, club, conference, or forum). In a computer
discussion, users view and participate in either a public or private online
conversation.
Synchronous
communication refers to “same-time” communication. This form of communication
does occur essentially instantaneously and takes place in real time. There are
two main Internet tools or technology mentioned in relation to synchronously
communication. The first of these tools is known as chat or chat rooms, where
online space is established to allow two or more Internet users to communicate
in real time. Perhaps one of the more popular and well known versions of this
technology is referred to as IM or instant messaging. IM is a “one to one chat”
conducted when users are simultaneously online. Video conferencing is another
synchronous communication tool that makes it possible for live voice and video
images to be transmitted in real time over the Internet. Some of the more
popular tools for video conferencing are Skype and Global Schoolhouse. Both
chat and video conferencing tools allow for the sharing of information to be
either public or private.
2.
What are streaming audio and streaming video?
What impact do they have in the field of education?
Streaming audio
is when technology sends audio in a continuous stream or flow online. This
allows users to listen, essentially instantaneously, to audio as it is being
downloaded rather than having to wait until the files have completed the
transfer process. Some of the software programs that make streaming audio
possible are : RealOne Player, Windows Media Player, Winamp, Apple’s iTunes,
and Quicktime. Streaming video is
when technology allows for video to be sent in a continuous steam or flow
online. With this capability, users can view video clips almost immediately
while the information is being downloaded. Perhaps one of the most popular
tools for streaming video is YouTube. Individuals with internet access can go
to the YouTube site and stream a variety of videos, as well as upload their own
videos for others to view. As far as the
field of education is concerned, I believe that technology that allows for
streaming audio and video has greatly impacted the educational environment in
the fact that it has made information essentially immediately accessible to
both instructors and students as long as they have the proper tools and an
Internet connection. When studying information or current events, individuals
no longer have to wait to access the information. For instance, if a class is
studying a current event that is being discussed by the news media, streaming
audio or video news coverage could be accessed as events are unfolding. The
ability to stream audio and video has made accessing information easier and
more instantaneous.
3.
What is a portal? How can it be used in
education?
A portal is
defined as “a doorway to the Internet and its many resources”. In other words,
a portal provides users with access and services that help to facilitate their
use of the Internet. For instance, many popular portals like Google, Yahoo!,
and Excite, not only provide users with access to the Internet, but they offer
search engines, news, email services, discussion boards, electronic shopping,
and chat rooms, as well. I believe that portals can be used in education
because they provide a number of resources that can assist teachers and
students in the learning process. One example that I can give is the way in
which I have been able to use Google for many of my online college courses.
Google is a popular portal with a search engine that allows me to find a
variety of websites for my research needs. In addition, I have been able to
construct various class projects within a Google tool known as Google Drive.
Using Google Drive to create these projects allows my instructor, classmates,
and group members to easily access the information and edit or add to the
projects if necessary. I have used Gmail, or Google’s email service to
communicate with both instructors and fellow classmates. Also, I have used
Blogger, Google’s blog creation tool, to develop many of the blogs that I have
created for various courses. All of Google’s tools have allowed me to be able
to effectively and efficiently work and collaborate with class members
throughout my coursework and I feel that the use of the Google portal within a
classroom setting could be a great asset to help facilitate learning.
4.
Discuss any experience you’ve had with the
Internet technology listed above.
When it comes to asynchronous communication technology, I
use email almost on a daily basis to communicate with coworkers, family
members, friends, or classmates. I have several Gmail accounts and have had a
Yahoo Mail account for many years. Now that I am taking online courses, I use
discussion boards within those online courses regularly to correspond with
classmates, share information and submit assignments. My experience with using
synchronous communication technology is a bit more limited. I do not usually
use chat rooms or instant messaging programs, but within the Google Drive
program, there is a form of this technology which allows authorized users to
view and documents simultaneously, as well as chat with one another or post
notes that can be instantly seen by those viewing the document. This is the
closest to synchronous communication tools that I have used before. In regards
to streaming audio and video, I have used different programs to stream both
audio and video through my computer to view programs or listen to radio
broadcasts. I have also used YouTube to both view videos, as well as create and
upload videos related to library resources at my previous job. Finally, as I
explained in the previous question, I have used Google’s portal and many of its
tools like Drive, Gmail, and Blogger throughout my educational journey.
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