Wiki Comment on Project Based Learning

For our last project I read the articles on project based learning on http://iae-pedia.org/Project-Based_Learning.  I love project based learning and try to implement it in my class as much as possible.  Katz and Chard list five features of projects that I think are vital to a successful implementation.  They are: 1) discussion - this is the children talking to each other, 2) field work - this takes place outside of the classroom such as at the zoo, 3)investigation - as students become older there investigations will be more second hand research such as the Internet and books, 4)representation - students should be given choice in how to represent their learning, and 5)display - this not only includes a display of the students' work but materials as well so that the students can become more independent of the teacher.  Some examples of projects I've done in my classroom were natural resources and penguins.  The topics should be student selected and have to be something that they can directly investigate in the early childhood years.  The students will pose questions that will guide their projects.  On the website it discussed rubrics as an important way of assessing projects.  If you're new to projects or rubrics www.rubistar.com is a great site for making quick, custom rubrics.  Enjoy your next project!

Wii

The Wii has become such a popular video game console and an amazing advancement in technology.  This is the first time that I can remember a video game system being used outside of homes for any technological reason.  I even read an article in "Popular Science" a few weeks ago about how scientists are using the Wii to modify how bombs are diffused.  The article was discussing how the controls are much more natural feeling than the current robotic controls and this will lead to less error.  I've also seen a Wii at UAB in the engineering building, but I'm not sure how it's being implemented at the educational level.  That is definitely something I'm going to have to look into.  If anyone knows how its used, please let me know. We also have them at our school in the P.E. department.  The students absolutely love them!  They just think they're playing video games and don't realize that it's a physical activity.  I think that as time passes we'll continue to see the Wii being implemented in educational settings, especially in areas of science and technology.  Although I just use the Wii to have fun and play games I think its potential is huge and we'll continue to see its technology applied in many other settings!

Comments on Lesson Plan Development

• Here is my lesson plan using constructivism.  Please read and comment.  Thanks.
  
• I use personal observations to give the group assignment grade, but that's a great idea to have the students take part in that area of assessment. I'll have to try that next time. Thanks for the idea.
  

• No problem!  Let me know of anything else you need me to do.
• I liked how you made sure to keep it a constructivist lesson by not assigning specific websites, but allowing the children to construct their answers on their own.  Sounds like a fun lesson!
• I've never seen them made w/ dirt, only clay.  Do they have to turn the dirt into mud or do they just pack it down tightly?
  
• Sounds good to me!
  
• Maybe we could add a Multimedia Encyclopedia or Electronic book to the cognitivism lesson plan to emphasize that the teacher has planned what the students will learn.  If we're not specific it might seem to constructivist.  What do you think?
  
• I love rubrics too!  I think it would be nice to include them if you have an informal assessment, like a project.  If you have a formal assessment, like a quiz, I think that would be okay too.
  
• On the behaviorism lesson plan it doesn't really justify why that learning theory is appropriate.  It just says what they're doing.  Maybe we could add in why starfall.com works for behaviorism.  Also, maybe we could be more specific in listing the "at" books and list a few titles.
  
•  would have it as 2 students per group - sorry I should have kept my wording consistent. I did not include the computers b/c every school is so different. In my particular classroom, I would use a laptop cart, but you could easily modify it to a lab or rotate groups with computers in your class. You would need to make the lesson plan work for you and your school! Since this is a constructivism lesson plan, I did not include jobs. I like to leave it open to the students on what type of project they will make and how they will divide the work. This way they are making the choices and are constructing their own knowledge, not just completing assigned jobs.
  
•  really liked how you included Skype into your lesson plan. This is becoming such a popular way to communicate! The checklist was also a good idea. Will students have access to the checklist or will it just be for the teacher? Also, in the lesson you say the students have choice in their pictures, etc. but then the checklist lists each item separately. Do they have to include all of them or only the ones they choose to help them construct their knowledge and how will the checklist convert to a grade?
  
• I really liked your lesson!  I teach 2nd grade and this could easily be adapted.  I like how you had a webquest, but it was still open-ended enough to be considered constructivism.  The choice of graphic organizer worked really well too, instead of having children just complete one that the teacher selected. I also liked how the think/pair/share built on the social aspect of this learning theory. Great job!
  

Discussion Comments for Learning Theories and Technology

• I agree with you that the project approach is a great way to use social constructivism. The students can work together to deepen their knowledge of topics. I think Regio Emilio is also an approach in which you would see social constructivism implemented.
• I'm confused about the project, as I think many of us are. I thought for the first project we were supposed to discuss all of the readings, not just the one we're doing our lesson plan on. This way every one would have an equal amount of work. Please reread the assignment and let me know what you think.
• I agree that a lot of this would be easier to do if we met in person or knew eachother. I always think online classes will be easier or the same workload, but they always seem to be harder because of communication issues!
• The draft is due on our group space April 2nd and the final one is due on the class discussion board April 5th.
• Constructivism is a unique learning theory to use when teaching students about technology. Originally I thought that it would not be a good approach to use when teaching students to work with technology, especially computer related. There are so many things that need to be taught explicitly, such as how to use specific programs and Internet searches. If you don't use these things correctly you risk harming the computer. After reading the articles I realized that although some things do need to be taught explicitly, construcitivism can work for other technology lessons. One great way is to have children do research on the computer. They will have to find the correct sources and apply the information (This only works if it's open ended. You can't assign sites for them to visit.) I think this would work best for older grades. It's nice to know that constructivism can be properly applied to technology!
• I used starfall.com in my first grade classroom last year. In the beginning I assigned stories to read, but as the year progressed I let students pick their own stories and activities. They were able to construct meaning at their ability level and based on what was important. Some chidren still chose phonics books, while others moved onto fairy tales. They needed to be scaffolded in the beginning, but after they were shown the basics of the program constructivism and technology could be used in lower grades. (It is MUCH easier in higher grade levels though.)
• I like the metapor in this learning theory relating the mind to a computer. As you stated, sometimes children that have disabilities "have a broken computer" according to this theory. I think that this is a great use of when technology can help "fix the computer." There is so much assistive technology for students with special needs, such as hearing aids, pecs software programs, etc., that help students with special needs to be successful in a regular education classroom that can often use cognitivism.
• I like the metapor in this learning theory relating the mind to a computer. As you stated, sometimes children that have disabilities "have a broken computer" according to this theory. I think that this is a great use of when technology can help "fix the computer." There is so much assistive technology for students with special needs, such as hearing aids, pecs software programs, etc., that help students with special needs to be successful in a regular education classroom that can often use cognitivism.
• Is it something that's stated in her IEP? If not, make sure it gets added for next year. That way they will have to provide it.
  
• Very, very sad! That is why the teacher often has to be the advocate for the child when the parent can't.
• When I think of behaviorism I immediately think of Pavlov and Skinner and their theories of operant and classical conditioning. I think behaviorism is a major part of schools, whether we like it or not. It's very significant in our classroom management, which as an early childhood teacher plays a major role in computer/technology use in my classroom. I have to start out the beginning of the year teaching my expectations for computer use. The children learn that if they misbehave they will lose their computer privileges and that students who are responsible will get extra time or choices on the computer. They are essentially conditioned to behave as I expect (and all 2nd graders do this b/c they love the computer!) This example of behaviorism related to the computer is one that I think all teachers unknowingly use. Does anyone have any other examples of behaviorism and technology, such as lesson ideas?
• That makes me think of Alfie Kohn and his thought that children should not receive any reward, not even praise. It would be interesting to be in a school that followed this philosophy and to see the difference between it and a typical school.
• I agree. It sounds interesting, but it's not me. I guess that's why most schools aren't this way!
• Thanks for the idea! That opens up the door to a lot of lessons in which the students advance to levels based on their success or are punished and must stay on that level because of poor results. Another example would be Batter Up.
  
• The format definitely makes it easy to read and can clearly visualize our thoughts.
• Looks like a great start! I'll keep checking back to see it with our discussions added. I don't know if it's just b/c I have Office 2007, but some of the titles are cut in half. Maybe we could hyphenate them or change the font size so they all fit on one line. (It may just be my software!)
  

SchoolCast

One new innovation in school technology is SchoolCast. I'm writing about this today because we are using it today because of the impending bad weather! This is an automated system that calls parents and faculty when there is an early dismissal or school is cancelled. This technology was not available when I started teaching. We had to make phone trees and rely on parents to call other parents of the students in our class. Often the parents couldn't find their phone tree or were unreachable. I would often end up calling most, if not all, of the parents myself. Luckily almost all of the teachers had cell phones and could call from their class (although we had to use up a lot of our minutes). I can't imagine how crazy it would be if we could only call from our school phone lines! SchoolCast has saved us so much time, energy, and money! One downside to SchoolCast is that when all of the systems in the area are using it, the lines can sometimes get jammed up. Then parents don't get notified in a timely manner and teachers end up calling anway. Because of this we have backup phone trees to use if SchoolCast is down. Although it's not perfect and has room to grow I think it's a great improvement to the old system.

Videos

For our practicum we are required to videotape our classroom. While getting my undergraduate degree we just had advisers come to our classroom and watch us teach, so this was very new to me. I checked out a digital video recorder from my school library and taped my class during a reading lesson last week. That's when my technology issues began. We are required to turn in our video on either a DVD or VHS. The camera I used recorded to a DC tape. I thought okay, well I can burn it to a DVD from my computer. Well, I didn't have a cable to connect the computer to the camcorder. I found someone and got the movie downloaded! I thought my problems were over, so I used MovieMaker to finish up my video and adjust the audio. Then I got ready to burn it to a DVD. To my surprise, MovieMaker does not allow you to burn to DVD, only CD!!! I had to save it as a .wmv file and cross my fingers that I can find a way to get a .wmv file to a DVD. Another difficulty with it is that I did it on my school computer, which doesn't easily allow us to download programs which might help. Our media specialist is working with me to fix this, so hopefully with some luck I will be able to get it to a DVD. (Let me know if you have any ideas.) If not, I guess I'll have to find another camera and tape again. I guess what I learned from this experience is that with technology you need to research it and plan ahead!

School Websites

Lately there are an abundance of school websites in which the teachers have their own individual sites. I have one at the school I teach at. It's a great resource and communication tool for parents. I am able to upload pictures, our weekly skills agenda, a calendar, and links to educational websites. I can also post discussion boards like we have in this class. I posted one at the beginning of the year on book recommendations (with only 1 response). I spend a lot of time on the website so that students and parents can stay as informed as possible. I have had some frustration with it though. Many of my parents have never visited the site (we can track users). It's disappointing to put in all of my time and effort to not have this resource being used to its fullest. Also, some parents have tried to visit it, but have had difficulties logging in. It's a private site with a login, but many of the logins don't seem to work properly. I enjoy the privacy, but think that if there wasn't a login I would have much more participation. I think at the higher grade levels it's probably a much more appreciated tool because it can be more independently used by the students without having to have as much parent involvement. It is a convenience for me in the classroom too. This way all of my favorite links are in one place and I don't have to bookmark them on all of the computers and we can easily access them in the lab without having to type them in (which is time consuming for 2nd graders). I hope that as more school systems get teacher websites and parents/teachers become more comfortable with their use, we'll see increased participation!