Final Project - due Monday, May 6

Greetings all - Happy Spring!

Please click here for instructions about your final project.  And email if you have any questions—it really is just a continuation of the work you've already been doing so is not difficult—just do it with care.  I should have feedback on your last project by the end of this weekend.   

I empathize with you in taking an on-line class.  It's frustrating for me as well to not be able to hold discussions, compliment or challenge you on your thinking, really engage in the issues present.  Since this is only a one credit class, the goal is to provide a framework for your personal, and trust me - ongoing, investigation into how media and technology shape the way we understand and teach, and ultimately 'know' what we know.  And your students will have a different framework than you do—subtle, but different.

On a very pragmatic note, your digging into the standards will help you land and keep a job.  On a more philosophical note, this class will hopefully keep a window open in your teaching strategies to a more critical and thoughtful use of technology and media in your content areas. 

Good luck.  I look forward to seeing your excellent work.

Lisa Phillips

Engrade oddness

Just a heads up that for many of you, Engrade is not providing a correct average score.  A reminder that Interactivities (1 thru 5) will provide 50% of your grade, timely/thoughtful blog posts comprise 25% and your Final Project will be the final 25%.

Interactivity #4 Feedback

All spreadsheets and blogposts comprising Interactivity #4 have been formally assessed and final scores have been posted to your Engrade account(s). The average score of submissions was a low 7 out of 10 points:

Below is the scoring checklist for this assignment (The checklist was also posted in the Interactivity #4 guidelines). It is worth re-viewing as you contemplate the score you earned. 

(click to enlarge)

Note that we curved the final set of grades (to your advantage), so the numbers on your individual rubric will most likely add up to a lower score than the one you were finally assigned within Engrade. I did this to acknowledge that aligning technologies, strategies and standards (also known as "technology integration") is a challenging activity, particularly since some of you have not yet worked in depth with lesson plans; neither have many of you completed your methods courses within your pre-service program. Please know that we are sympathetic to this fact and made accommodations in ways that are appropriate to the assignments.

The most common mistakes made on this assignment were (in rank order):

• Spreadsheet not fully labeled with all the required information.
• Selected technologies did not align with the teaching strategies.
• Standards were not identified and supported.
• The lesson plan lacked a clear curriculum goal.
• Narrative blog post failed to do any or all of the following: provide a rationale for choosing lesson plan; identify gaps in the lesson plan; or did not explain the necessity of the technology.
• Lack of clear identification of (language for) teaching strategies in the spreadsheet.

Those who earned 5 points or less on this assignment most likely did one or more of the following (in addition to making the mistakes listed above):

• Made their spreadsheet inaccessible by failing to change the settings to "public."
• Did not include a narrative blog post to accompany the Google Spreadsheet.

Moving forward, you will have one final opportunity to engage in technology integration (the alignment of selected technologies, with intentional strategies,and required curriculum standards) in the final project of the semester (worth 25% of your grade). Guidelines for the final project will be posted on April 11th.

Interactivity #5: A Standards-based Approach to Technology Integration

Due date: Wednesday, April 24, 5:00 PM

Interactivity #4 required you to select a lesson plan and to identify teaching strategies that ideally achieve content standards in your particular subject area. For Interactivity #5, you will explore a second layer of standards that both students and teachers are expected to achieve: The National Educational Technology Standards for Students (NETS-S) and The National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers (NETS-T).

For this purpose you will collect some basic data from a classroom teacher of your choice (currently working in a school that can be in New Jersey or out-of-state) about the impact of national technology standards and to what extent they are taught, integrated and achieved. Keep in mind, the NETS are not considered a separate subject area. They should be accomplished throughout your pedagogy/teaching strategies as you teach toward your curriculum content goals. This is in contrast to the (Common Core) standards in Technology and Engineering that the National Assessment of Educational Progress will officially debut in 2014. [click here to see a draft of those standards]. You can see that there is overlap between the NETS and the NAEP's standards; however, the significant difference lies in technology as a separate subject area versus technology as a pedagogical means to another curricular end. For this interactivity, we will be using only the NETS-S and NETS-T because they are integrative by design. Update: Check out this link  that more closely aligns the Common Core with the NETS-S. You might find it useful, as the Common Core standards gain momentum.

Step One: Know Your Standards

First, become familiar with the NETS-S and the NETS-T. "Familiarity" means that you know how to locate them and you understand them. You can find them in Appendix B (pp. 127-130) in Rethinking Technology in Schools. Additionally, you can find Student Profiles for specific grade levels by [following this link]. The NETS were originally created in 1998 and then updated in 2007 and 2008 by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE).


Step Two: Select a Classroom Teacher

Reach out to a teacher that you know from fieldwork in previous or current courses or a relative who is a teacher or any school district where you have a contact. Any teacher will do, but the optimal choice is to select a teacher within your content area and grade level. Ask the teacher if you can conduct a short interview about instructional technology use in their school and/or classroom. (If you are already a substitute teacher and/or working in a school district, you may complete this Interactivity in the school where you work).

Step Three: Interview the Teacher about the NETS

Once you have secured permission to interview the teacher (In-person, by phone, via email or using Skype are all acceptable methods), then use the following NETS Adoption Survey as a general guide on which to base your interview. Keep in mind if you submit your responses, you cannot retrieve them as they go directly to ISTE. So, record your responses in a separate document first. The survey questions are meant to generally assess whether the teacher and the school in which they work are successfully implementing the NETS-S. Here are some additional suggestions/considerations:

• It is not uncommon for teachers to be unfamiliar with the NETS as many administrators are not trained in this area and cannot provide the leadership and support needed (see the NETS-A). It is therefore a good idea to present/email a copy or link to the NETS-S and NETS-T to your teacher for reference during the interview.
• You must secure their permission if you voice record the interview. Be mindful of excluding anything that the teacher says is "off the record."
• It is a good idea to let the teacher know that his/her identity will be concealed (although the school district and grade level will be mentioned) and that the interview data will be used only for purposes of a larger discussion in your teacher preparation program about technology integration in the K-12 setting.
• Make sure to document in some way the teacher's responses to the questions—either through your interview notes, voice recording or email chain.

Step Four: Share and Reflect

Describe the teacher's responses in a narrative post/paragraph on your blogspot (approximately 400-500 words). Make sure to conceal the teacher's identity (to protect their privacy) and begin your post with some basic contextual information about the school setting (e.g., 9th grade math teacher in Nutley School District). As concisely as possible (in paragraph format) address the following questions:

• Based on the survey responses, was this teacher knowledgeable about the NETS-S and/or the NETS-T? If not, what was their initial reaction when you presented those standards to them for the first time?
• Has this particular school and/or district begun to implement the NETS-S and/or the NETS-T? If not, what other technology initiatives exist to increase students' proficiency and media literacy?
• Were you surprised at any of the teacher's responses? Why or why not?
• As a future educator, how would you speak to others within your school about the NETS-S and NETS-T?

Step Five: Add the NETS-S to your Interactivity #5 Spreadsheet—in the Standards Column alongside your content area standards.

Keep in mind that your strategies column as well as the technologies that were either included in the lesson plan or that you added should dictate what NETS-S indicator your students are achieving. Somewhere within your post, please provide the link to your Google Spreadsheet. It should be the same spreadsheet and link for Interactivity #4.

Your final score for this assignment will be calculated according to the following criteria:

8 Ways Technology Is Improving Education

When I read Sarah Kessler's post on "Mashable Tech" that lists 8 ways technology has improved education, I immediately thought of Interactivity #3 and the construction of your content-specific technology inventories. According to Kessler, these are the improvements catalyzed by (digital) technologies:

1. Better simulations and models

2. Global Learning

3. Virtual Manipulatives

4. Probes and Sensors

5. More Efficient Assessment

6. Storytelling and Multimedia

7. E-books

8. Epistemic Games

Some of these made your inventories, and some of them might be new to you. If you're curious, her video-rich article is a good read. [click here to read more]

Blogs and Posting

BLOG POSTS/RESPONSES count for 25% of your grade.  I track not only your posts on your own blogs (15 unique posts are required), but your posts on other people's sites (1-2/ week are suggested).  And I absolutely factor in who is posting over the course of the semester vs. say, in the last three weeks of class.   Some of you are falling behind.  The more you post within your group, the less likely I am to miss a post of yours.  However, if you don't feel that you have enough people in your group to get inspired by/about (or they are not posting), feel free to look at other classmates' posts and respond!  I'll find your work.

Interactivity #4

The Pedagogical Uses of Technology Due date: Wednesday, April 3, 2013 by 5:00 pm EST

If you haven't already, please begin Interactivity #4

How many teachers use a Smartboard simply because there is one installed in their classroom instead of intentionally choosing the tool based on thinking deeply about what they pedagogically want to accomplish? At this point in the module, I want you to conscientiously think about where, when and how learning occurs and how to intentionally create technological environments that facilitate those learning goals. This is not an easy task. However, it is incumbent upon every teacher to approach technology integration in this way.
 
You will work individually on this assignment (this is not a group project).

Interactivity #3 Feedback

All group spreadsheets and blog posts comprising Interactivity #3 have now been formally assessed and final scores have been posted to your Engrade accounts. 

The average score was quite high (86%). Some individuals and groups excelled at this assignment; other individuals unfortunately missed the target or did not participate at all.  However, most groups worked together very well to create an organized, content-specific inventory. Well done.

If you had points deducted from your individual score, it was probably for one or more of the following reasons:

• Your contributions to the group spreadsheet was minimal, last-minute or less-than substantial (up to 20 points).
  
• The group spreadsheet lacked a coherent organizational structure (10 points). Chapter Three in the course text provided you with a possible structure for categorizing your technologies (e.g., content management, authoring tools, collaboration, etc.).   While you were not required to use this particular structure, you were required to organize your technologies into some coherent structure. It was unacceptable to organize your inventory according to individual group names or to have categories assigned to specific group members. The group assignment was to produce one cohesive inventory—not multiple ones. Organization was worth 10 points according to the assessment rubric.

If you were docked points, please re-view the original Interactivity #3 guidelines and your Google spreadsheet prior to contacting me with questions or concerns. If you are still confused about your assigned score then send me an email with your specific concern to set up a phone discussion.

It is important that you understand the basic functionality of Google Spreadsheets, as each of you will use it for Interactivity #4 and also for the final project of the semester. If you are curious as to how Google Spreadsheets can support your teaching, [this is a good starter resource].

Interactivity #2 Feedback

**NOTE that in most cases, FEEDBACK on your INDIVIDUAL SUBMISSIONS was sent to each of you through ENGRADE.  My space is limited for feedback, so apologies in advance for 'short hand' communication.

The average score was a low C (70%) for this second interactivity.

There were many excellent (100-point) submissions that magnified all of the requirements of the assignment. You did not need to be particularly creative to earn 100 points, you just needed to understand and follow precisely the technical guidelines for this assignment.

The most common mistake was including an additional narrative (or in some cases, multiple paragraphs) to "explain" your ideas. Instead, your image and caption should have been able to stand together as one coherent message. Perhaps you interpreted the guidelines of "Successful upload of image and caption as a blog post" to mean something more than creating a single post with just an image and caption? It's hard to tell (This is another reason why emailing me ahead of the deadline with any questions of clarification will make the biggest difference in your submission scores).

Another common mistake was including in your caption and/or image a technology that was post-1990 (your parameters were the years 1820-1990). Keep in mind that schools are much slower to adopt new technologies, so although the personal computer may have been invented in the 1980s (larger computers in the 60s and teaching machines in the 50s), computers were not a major influence on schooling until fairly recently—computer labs were rare. Depending upon your subject area, they may not have been a major influence at all in schools. So school-based specificity as well as content-area specificity was essential for this interactivity.

There is also much confusion about technology itself.  Music itself is not a technology.  They ways you communicate or compose it are, e.g. a pen, iTunes, software, CD player.  However, iTunes is not a music education content-specific technology.  It all depends on how you use it.  Listing iTunes as a technology for the classroom is similar to listing a pencil, a book or a laptop computer.  It doesn't mean or accomplish anything unless you know what to do with it—meaning, what makes it content-specific.  Your URLs needed to point to something specific. 

Interactivity #3 Guidelines Now Available

For guidelines to the third interactivity, [click here] (these are always available). Please note it is a group activity, so I strongly encourage you to begin work on it as soon as possible and to anticipate technical snafus. I have changed the deadline to give you an . It is due no later than 5:00pm EST on Friday, March 25.

Yikes! Time Flies...

Greetings all - my apologies for being so radio silent! Confusing with an online course, I know. I'm in the middle of a move, so am tight with time. I'm posting the third interactivity in just a few minutes and will give you a few extra days to work on it—the least I can do. I'll be posting general feedback to Interactivity #2 later this evening. I'm really enjoying reading your blogs! Huge thanks for your patience. Lisa Phillips

Interactivity #1 Feedback

Scores for Interactivity #1 have been posted in Engrade.  You all truly love your phones and laptops—so do I!  The average scores were high, but I confess, you were lucky.  I didn't post the scoring rubric for this first assignment.  It's below.  But it will show you what I was (and will) look for.  Clear writing.  Reflective thinking.  Following directions...

(click image to enlarge)

The most common point deduction was in the REFLECTION category—specifically the lack of reflection on the negative aspects of your 3 chosen technologies.  Without identifying the negative trade-offs of using a particular technology, you aren't truly being reflective (and arguably in denial about its influence).  I read waxing tributes to technology, but few thoughtful concerns and criticisms.

The second most common reason for point deduction was not comparing your experiences with those of the students in the videos. Remember, you had 750 words (some of you went way over... please don't) to play with to provide evidence that you viewed the videos and were reflectively contemplating your own uses as compared/contrasted to what you viewed. If you only posted around 300 or 400 words, then chances are your post sorely lacked in all areas within the rubric above.

I was surprised that many of you focused on only the fairly recent technologies that you "can't live without" as opposed to thinking about those technologies that have influenced you the most across your entire lifespan. Haven't books, pens and paper, and TV made a major impact on you as well? One of you commented that no interesting technologies developed in the 60's, 70's and 80's.  Really?  I also notice that many of you throw around the word technology without any real meaning attached to it. Hint: Technology does not simply refer to computers. But we'll read more on that topic a bit later.

If you are confused at your score for Interactivity #1, then please do the following (in order):

Review the assignment guidelines for Interactivity #1
Review the general feedback above
Review your own post for Interactivity #1

Your Online Profile

At this point, everyone should have their blogspot set up with a professional profile that includes a photo. (I'm making the presumption that you'll be using this blog as a professional resource in this class... and possibly in your teaching future as well.)  As I mention in the section on Online Professionalism, deciding how to represent yourself visually and literally as a teacher takes some careful consideration. At the same time, there is beauty in simplicity.

Make sure that you are recognizable in your photo.  Some of your photos are too dark, a couple of you are wearing sunglasses. (A potential employer should be able to recognize you from your profile photo). Also, try to obtain as clear (high quality/resolution) of an image as possible. Blurry or low-light photos just don't look professional. And avoid cheerleader/sexy poses.  That's OK for your Facebook page (which your employer will most likely scope out too by the way) but not for here.  When in doubt, just keep it simple and be yourself—as a professional teacher, that is.

If you have not yet posted a photo, what are you waiting for?

2nd Interactivity - Due March 6

Due: 5:00pm EST Wednesday, March 6

A reminder that all of your Interactivities are available on this blog, but I wanted to remind you that Interactivity #2 is next in line for your attention.  Please pay careful attention to the grading rubric below.

The first interactivity asked you to self-reflect on your own relationship to communications technologies—and how that relationship might be similar to and/or different from those of the young people that you will teach. At this point, you should be more aware of those technologies that have most influenced your own life and also aware of their negative as well as positive influences. This second interactivity asks you to look back into history to more deeply understand how communications technologies have influenced (for better and worse) the formalized education process through schooling. The purpose for looking backward is to understand how to move forward in renewing schooling to meet the needs of the 21st century.

1. View this 9-minute video that presents a visual history of technology in schools from the period 1900-1990. Ask yourself: Which technology influenced education in my particular content area the most during this historical time period?
   
   
   
   
2. Read Chapter 2 in Rethinking Technology and Schools and the supplementary article, A Social History of Media and Technology in Schools. Based on your reading of these 2 texts, choose one technology that you think has had the greatest impact (for better or worse) upon formalized schooling in your content area between the years 1820 and 1990. Your chosen technology must be grounded in historical evidence from the assigned readings.
   
   
3. Choose or create an image that visually illustrates the impact of this technology upon schooling in your content area. You may find an image on the internet, take your own picture, or create one using a software program. There is no limit to your creativity with this image, as long as it represents how this chosen technology has realistically impacted schooling in your chosen subject area between the years 1820 and 1990.
    
4. Upload your image to your blog and create a single line caption or tagline to explain the message of your image. You may use only one sentence or phrase to describe your image. If you use more than that, points will be deducted from your final score.

This interactivity is worth 100 points and assessment will be as follows:

• Choice of technology (grounded in historical data contained in the assigned readings) (3 points)
• Graphic representation of technological impact on schooling in your subject area (3 points)
• Contribution of text/caption to the overall meaning of your message (3 points)
• Successful upload of image and caption as a blog post (1 point)
• Recommendation: Search through other blogspots and view your classmates' images. Provide commentary or questions to earn your online participation for the week.

Interactivity #1 Due Feb 20

The directions for your first Interactivity are posted here.  You can also link to all of the Interactivities via the menu above or by clicking here.  The assignment is due by 5:00 pm, February 20.  Please read the assignment thru carefully.

You can add/modify your blog entry up until the deadline. Additionally, there is a formal rubric within Engrade that you can view to see how your final Interactivity #1 will be scored.

More Getting Started...

Hi all,

Thanks for your personal responses.  It really helped get a sense of what you all are looking for.  Here are some clarifying thoughts.

Online classes are discombobulating!  Hang in there—and pay attention to what you're experiencing.  It will inform how you handle online communication with your students.  As a rule, this class is to help you figure out where and how technology will play in your classroom.  It is not a hands-on instructional class in technology.  Which is frustrating, I know.  There are resources on campus to learn the basics (Excel, Powerpoint, etc.).  And many of you inquired about White/Smart boards.  Can't help you there—but any school you eventually work in, should they have them, will provide training.  But the kind of thinking you need to use a Smart board well is what you'll be doing in this class—the thinking, designing, resource management, contextualizing of your content and the technologies you use.  All of the assignments (I'm calling them 'Interactivities' here) build upon each other to culminate in your final project.  Use it to support other classes you are taking, sub work you are doing now, or as a model lesson you'll use in the future when job hunting.  Just make it work for you.


Online classes also presume two things:  First, proactive behavior on your part.   For example, read the blog, syllabus, etc.  I'm getting lots of questions where the answers are easily found here.  Additionally, all of the assignments are listed in the tabs here called "Interactivities" and "Final Project".  By reading ahead, you can get a sense of the project and plan accordingly.  Second, you need organization.  Most of you are pros already in your combining families, multiple jobs, classes, etc.  But digital organization is key as well.  You'll soon be balancing all of the above plus 30 - 120 students, their assignments, resources, email addresses, their parents' contact info, etc.  So take this opportunity to invest in your blog, Google Docs, or any other tools you find that will help you down the road with classroom management.

Tips:  Subscribe to this blog (upper left corner of this page) via email.  You'll then know when you need to check the blog for updates.  And on the note of email: email hygiene is paramount.  Clean out your inbox.  Create folders.  Delete what you don't need.  Separate home from work from school from the classroom.

My Feedback.  Generally, I'll post on this blog weekly and address the major concerns that I see/hear from you as well as any updates about assignments.   If I don't respond to an email right away, it's because it will be addressed as a blog post for everyone soon or I sense that you didn't read the blog/assignments carefully.

Communication with Me.  Please either use my MSU email (philipsm@mail.montclair.edu) or personal email (maggio2@gmail.com) for general communication (vs. Engrade).   If blog post/assignment-specific, respond to that post directly.  I, or one of you, will be able to answer the question there.

Engrade.  Engrade is similar to Blackboard.  I could post assignments there, do all of my communication with you, track your grades, etc., but I will only be using it to post assessments of your Interactivities and Final Project.  The primary reasons for using Engrade is that it's free and gives you the opportunity to learn the system and consider it for your own students in the future.  But each platform that you add to the mix (googledocs/blogs, blackboard, Engrade, email, WESS, etc.) adds more management on your time.  Always aim for simple and effective.  Thus my primarily using the blog and email.

Blog posts.  The posts that will count for credit are only the ones that you post within your Groups—which you don't have yet.  Groups will be assigned later this week based on your content area.  But feel free to post otherwise if you have good questions, responses, useful information, etc.

Best -

LP

Getting Started

Note that this course module begins January 22 and ends May 12. It is not housed on Blackboard.

Greetings!  You've just received an email with your first assignment: a brief introduction about yourselves. It is due next Wednesday, January 30, 6 pm EST.  

In the meantime...welcome to Curriculum 316.03.

Step One: Download and review the course syllabus—including all policies, practices and requirements [click here]. It is too easy to simply gloss over a syllabus. In an online course, it is essential that you are aware of both the technical and academic requirements. 

Step Two: Purchase the required course text. There is not a lot of reading in this course module; however, it is from a very specific ideological stance of technology. Data show that those who complete the assigned readings score much higher on the interactivities and final project than those who do not.  You should be able to find the book in the MSU bookstore.

Step Three: Create your own Blog for this course [view tutorial]. This should be done through Blogger. To do this, you'll need to establish a Google Account using a non-MSU email address. (You do NOT need a gmail address to set up a Google Account. You can use one of your non-MSU email addresses). Make sure to set the "Settings">"Permissions" so that "Everybody" can read your blog. Don't forget to write down or bookmark your blog address. It will be http://[yourcustomname].blogspot.com.

Step Four: Everyone needs a professional-looking profile photo and basic information about themselves on their Blogger profile. [click here for advice]. 

Step Five: Email your blog address to me at maggio2@gmail.com (or my MSU email).  I do use my personal email more often and prefer to link to your blog via my home address.  Once I receive your blog address, I will link our course site to your personal blog. This is essential in enabling others to read and respond to your blog posts, as well as engaging in online participation, which is a significant part of your course grade. Make sure your name appears on the Groups page (Groups will be posted by Feb. 6).

Step Six: Register your Engrade account. This is where your scores will be posted. You will receive a separate email generated through Engrade with log-in instructions on how to do this. If you have an existing Engrade account from a previous class, then click here to add this course to your account.  If you have not received a message by this Friday, January 25, check your spam folder.

Step Six: Nervous about completing this online module? I recommend reading excerpts from Leslie Bowman's book, Online Learning. She gives the nuts-and-bolts of doing an online course and also sets forth protocol for online communication. 

You must have the items above completed by February 6 in order to stay on track for the semester. Keep in mind that no late assignments will be accepted in this course. This is non-negotiable. Start early and anticipate technological snafus.

Please let me know your questions and concerns. 

Thanks! Looking forward to a great semester.