Week 5

This past week the robotics group grew from 10 students to 15 students, meaning new procedures and expectations were to be put into place.  The good thing about the change was our work space went from a closet down the hall to my classroom, making it easy for students to get to  their robots and make the most of what precious time we have for intervention.  Students were introduced to a rubric they would be using to rate themselves on their programming performance.  Students were also given checklists and a troubleshooting guide to help them take charge of their learning. 

Students were also introduced to the reflection sheet that will be used weekly or biweekly in order to reflect on that day or week's programming.  I have not yet decided if I wanted this to be a weekly or biweekly task, but I do know that I am going to have my groups post onto Seesaw weekly with a summative reflection.  My groups have already used Seesaw to write their goals for robotics and the rest of their fifth grade year.

Our group also was able to get two more devices, so now our classroom has 8 kindles (one is an older kindle that does not run the Wonder or Blockily applications but does connect to the internet), 4 desktop computers and 2 laptops.  This makes it so much easier for our classroom to seamlessly integrate technology into our curriculum and keeps students from having to wait for a device.

I read up on a Case Study involving the Dash and Dot wonder robots.  The challenge presented in the study mirrors my own objective for robotics: to "inspire students to participate in programming and other technologies; while improving student motivation and engagement" (Segiet, 2016).  This case study helped put into perspective what exactly I was trying to achieve with my Dash and Dot robots.  In the case study, the researcher was also wishing to start a coding club for the following school year, making the research and findings very relatable and relevant to my own internship and studies.  You can find the PDF to the case study below:

http://wonderworkshop.sunburst.com/ww_case-study1.pdf

Week 4

This week was a little difficult when it came to getting my internship hours in.  Fifth grade had back-to-back benchmarks on Monday and Tuesday, and Wednesday was our Valentine's parties.  Thursday, however, we were back on track and I had the chance to meet with both my robotics group and my homeroom group to continue our Seesaw lessons.

Today I put the power of programming back into the students' hands as they worked together to navigate through the learning modules on the Wonder Workshop application.  Our first programming session was a teacher-guided lesson on nested loops using the Blockly app, so this was a different approach that students had not yet had a chance to discover. 

Through trial and error, and by seeking help of fellow "programmers,"  the students continued to surprise me with how quickly they worked through the modules, as well as how they were able to customize the modules to make them their own as they also fulfilled the tasks at hand.  It was very rewarding to sit back and watch as they problem-solved and helped each other through some difficult steps in the programming process.

However, as much as we are having with programming, the STAAR test is lurking just around the corner.  I am going to begin using Quizziz on the Kindles to help this group of students refine their knowledge of content before they are able to continue with the learning modules on Wonder.  Students will still be getting to program as well as receive refinement along the way.

My home room also got to work with Seesaw a little this past week as well. This past Thursday students completed lesson 6, which had them post a selfie to Seesaw that included positive words about themselves.  Students really enjoyed seeing their posts projected on the board as I approved their comments.  Students also enjoyed helping out eachother and bringing eachother up as they encouraged their classmates to take selfies. 

Week 3 - Jumping into the technology

Week three of my internship has been a very productive one.  The week starting by me introducing my home room students to SeeSaw, a journaling application that puts students in control of their own personal E-portfolio.  This week students got to watch me model posting and taking pictures on SeeSaw, along with learning about "Netiquette."  I was also able to meet with my GT/TPSP group and introducing them to their Dash and Dot robots they will be programming with for the remainder of the school year.

This week was very exciting for both myself and my students.  On Thursday I received Whispercast training so I can have access to and control of applications downloaded onto our Kindles.  I also ordered a Amazon charging tower to help manage charging of the kindle devices.  With Benchmarks next week I am looking forward to intervention time as I continue to use technology to help the students interact with their learning and eachother.

Week 2- Getting the ball rolling

    Now that I have been given the okay to start piloting robotics, it is time to make sure that the technology that I have will work for the project.  I was at a standstill with the Kindles, since I did not have the ability to download the required applications needed to program the robots.  This week my supervisor delivered the loaner robots we would be using for the pilot, which of course was very exciting.  There would be enough for groups of 2 and 3 to work together collaboratively with the robots.  

    Now for getting our devices on board to launch.  I contacted our district's technology coordinator, who signed me up for Whispercast training and gave me permissions to download apps onto not only the kindle fires in my classroom, but in the entire school. 

   This opened up doors that went beyond robotics.  See, the school purchased Kindle Fires a few years ago, but did not have anyone trained to best use them.  Thus, their academic use was limited, so much so that books could not be downloaded for them (the main reason for their purchase).  Now that there was someone on campus who knew how to set up the Kindles for academic use, students could get the most out of these tools. 

   I also got the chance to introduce one of the students who will be involved in the project to Jackson, one of the Dash robots.  I handed her a Kindle Fire with the Wonder app downloaded, and let her experiment. In five minutes the student was wandering the halls with the robot at her heels as she manually controlled Jackson with the Kindle.  When she showed my school's administration, the realization that our Kindle Fires were going to work for the project made them excited; this put much more room in our budget to purchase actual robots, instead of having to worry about devices to operate them.

    I plan on introducing the robots to my Pilot group late next week, and I can't wait to share our experiences!

Internship and Research - The Beginnings

With the holidays over and this new semester underway, it is time to begin my last semester as a grad student at UHV.  I am very excited for the opportunities I have been given and look forward to the new experiences to come.

As far as my internship goes, I had some ideas as to what my internship would entail.  I had gone to a staff development early January where I was introduced to BreakoutEDU, a program that puts learning and problem solving back into students' hands.  This is where I met my Internship supervisor, who was giving the training.  I was very interested in trying out Breakout at my school, but did not have the funds to purchase the physical "Breakout Box" and programs.  While the physical "breakout box" was not yet within reach, Breakout did have a digital component that had free Breakouts that I definitely will try this semester. More on that later.

It was my first week back from Winter break that a wonderful opportunity was presented to me.  My administration informed my fifth grade team that we had been offered a grant in the amount of $4,000 to jumpstart Lego Robotics at our campus.  After seeing my interest and knowing that this was the semester of my internship, they let me take the lead on the project. 


Along with the Lego Robotics opportunity to integrate technology into the classroom, I also planned to jumpstart blogging in my classroom, particularly with the subject of science.  Fifth grade takes a Standardized test on science, and their scores on the test is dependent on a well-rounded grasp of the concepts and applications.  After speaking to my supervisor I plan to use the free blogging platform Seesaw. 

Throughout this semester I will journal my experiences with integrating technology into the classroom, and will be conducting research on the effects of blogging on collaborative learning, literacy, and achievement in the fifth grade science classroom.

I look forward to sharing my experiences with you!

DGL vs Gamification

At first I had trouble with the difference between digital based learning (DGL) and gamification in regard to education. However, after doing some reading and thinking about how my own school incorporates technology into learning, the differences between the two education program types became clear. The examples I will be using are Istation, a DGL program, and Reflex Math, a program I would categorize under “Gamification”. Istation is a program that we use K-5 to assess students’ reading and math skills. The program saves educators a lot of time by having students take multiple assessments digitally and collecting data. The program is research-based and proven effective. According to research, “istation Reading Curriculum manages student data and provides teachers with timely access to continuously revised data through skill and progress reports on individuals and groups of students”(istation Reading Curriculum Supplemental Reading and Intervention Program, 2004). This type of program is different from a game in that, while the program changes and adapts according to the students’ needs, the students are not in control of the content – they merely interact with what is presented to them. The students complete assessments through Istation and practice skills that are presented. The next program, Reflex Math, is what I would classify under “Gamification.” Measles & Abu-Dawood (2015) define gamification as something that “integrates game elements into educational content to promote motivation and engagement” (p. 809). Educational games have been used in the classroom to make learning more enjoyable to students who are used to the stimulation of video games. When students interact with Reflex Math, they have control over many of the elements, such as the appearance (they can change their avatar), the games they play, and how they spend virtual currency that they earn while playing the program. The authors of the article Gamification: Game –Based Methods and Strategies to Increase Engagement and Motivation within an eLearning Environment (2015) note that, “Gamification is not an easy to create because it requires deep thinking about the whole learning experience rather than focusing on the elements solely” and that “Well designed gamified content can be engaging and enhanced motivation because they tap into the cognitive, the emotional, and the social areas of the players” (O’Donovan, Gain, & Marais, 2013; Kapp, 2012, as cited by Measles & Abu-Dawood, 2015). Students have fun interacting with Reflex Math, which is something that separates it from Istation learning; while students may be engaged by animations produced by Istation, it is not a game they are playing. Much like practicing spelling words may be enjoyable for some, or completing a “mad minute” with math facts, it is different from a game where the student is in control. In my opinion, there are distinct differences between DGL and Gamification. While engaging students in different ways, I believe that both are equally important tools to use in the classroom for increasing and monitoring student learning. Measles, S. & Abu-Dawood, S. (2015). Gamification: Game –Based Methods and Strategies to Increase Engagement and Motivation within an eLearning Environment. In D. Rutledge & D. Slykhuis (Eds.), Proceedings of SITE 2015--Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference (pp. 809-814). Las Vegas, NV, United States: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE). Retrieved November 10, 2017 from https://www-learntechlib-org.ruby.uhv.edu/p/150094/.https://www.istation.com/Content/downloads/whitepapers/ISResearch.pdfx

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Kahoot

When I saw this tool listed as one of the social media tools to explore I had to use it as the focus of my post.  I went to a training a few years ago where Kahoot was featured as a tool to get students excited about learning, while at the same time receiving a pre-assessment of whatever content is being focused on. I currently use a similar app called "Quizizz" in my classroom that serves to help students review before a test or to simply reinforce concepts.  I remember now, after seeing the name again, how fun Kahoot was when I participated in a demonstration at a training.  The way information is presented to the learner keeps you engaged and, while it is comparable to Quizizz, the organization of materials seems to make the learning more engaging.  I believe it will be beneficial for my students if I rotate between Quizizz and Kahoot to keep the presentation of information fresh and engaging.  

Click the image above to visit Kahoot and view the "What is Kahoot!?" video.