FROM BLACKBOARDS TO BLACKBOARD: TECH EFFECTIVENESS IN CLASSROOM ENGAGEMENT & EFFICIENCY

October 23, 2013

Blake TaylorWalnut Hills High SchoolCincinnati, OH

Nichole WilsonWilliam Mason High SchoolMason, OH

TO TW-EEE-T . . . OR NOT TO TW-EEE-T?

AGENDA

• CONCERNS ABOUT TECHNOLOGY AND

EDUCATION

• WHY TECHNOLOGY? •ENGAGEMENT •EFFICIENCY •EFFICACY

• WHO CARES?

• SO WHAT?

• PRACTICAL INNOVATIONS

WHO ARE WE?

" . . .Rightly to be great

Is not to stir without great argument,

But greatly to find quarrel in a straw

When honor's at the stake."

-- Hamlet (Hamlet 4.4.53-56)

Blake’s Blackboard Page (Just kidding)

The screen’s the Thing……...

Blake’s Book Room at School!!!!

Blake's (actual) Bookroom - (At A US News top 100 School)

"There is no good evidence that most uses of computers significantly improve teaching and learning, yet school districts are cutting programs -- music, art, physical education -- that enrich children's lives to make room for this dubious nostrum, and the Clinton Administration has embraced the goal of 'computers in every classroom' with credulous and costly enthusiasm."-- Todd Oppenheimer (1997)

Yes, we’re using it, but...

“There has been a remarkable improvement in access and rate of adoption of technology in education. Even so, reports indicate that faculty members are not integrating technology into instruction in ways that make a difference in student learning.”

Jared Keengwe

Department of Education, Muskingum College, OH

Tech and learning outcomes?

“Decades of media comparison studies have shown that the technology used to deliver instruction has relatively little to no direct effect on student learning or motivation.”

Atsusi Hirumi, Ph.D. STEM

Associate Professor

University of Central Florida

Books vs. ScreensA study at Arizona State University has found that students had lower reading comprehension of scrolling online material than they did of print-like versions.

Jill Laster

Chronicle of Higher Education

Computer Games?

O’Neil, Wainess, and Baker (2005) located over 4,000 articles about computer games published in peer-reviewed journals and found only 19 studies that included qualitative or quantitative data about learning or motivation.

Atsusi Hirumi (2012)

Games, games, games…..

The majority of research reviews on the effectiveness of computer games yielded either mixed results or found no positive effects.

Atsusi Hirumi (2012)

I need it NOW!!!

“Most visual media are real-time media that do not allow time for reflection, analysis or imagination.”

Patricia Greenfield, Science

A useful tool, but….

“While technology provides greater access to information and new ways for students to learn, it can become a crutch hindering creative problem solving and cognitive development.”

– James Rosenberg, Huffington Post

A brain-damaged generation?

“Their brains are rewarded not for staying on task but for jumping to the next thing,” said Michael Rich, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School and executive director of the Center on Media and Child Health in Boston. And the effects could linger: “The worry is we’re raising a generation of kids in front of screens whose brains are going to be wired differently.”

Matt Ritchel “Wired For Distraction”, NY Times

MOOCs (?!?)Massive Open Online Courses are the evolution of online learning for colleges and universities.

Massive open online courses have gained renown among academics for their impressive enrollment figures (Up to 150,000+ students!), low cost to the university, and, conversely, their unimpressive completion rates. Steve Kolowich - Chronicle of Higher Education

In general, the rate of completion in MOOCs is believed to be around 10 percent.Steve Kolowich, Chronicle of Higher Education

In the Udacity Remedial/Developmental Math course there was a disappointing 29 percent pass rate compared to an 80 percent pass rate in the regular face-to-face SJSU course. Only 12 percent of non-SJSU students in the Udacity version of the course passed, including students from Oakland Military Institute, the college-prep charter school. Kell Fujimoto and Elizabeth Cara, Mercury News

Not just remedial courses...

In Vanderbilt University’s first MOOCs (Spring 2013), of 23,313 active students:

• 20,933 (90%) watched at least one lecture video• 5,702 (24%) took at least one quiz• 2,072 (9%) submitted at least one assignment

for peer grading• 942 (4%) posted at least once in the discussion

forums. Derek Bruff, Vanderbilt CFT Director

. . . Aiming for Completion?

How many students completed the course?

• 1,051 (4.5%) earned a standard statement of accomplishment

• 592 (2.5%) earned a statement of accomplishment “with distinction”

= TOTAL? 1,643 (7%) students earned some form of statement.

Derek Bruff, Vanderbilt CFT Director

Why do universities like MOOCs? BIG DATA!!!

“The reality is that it's going to be done,” says Eva Baker, director of the Center for the Study of Evaluation at the University of California, Los Angeles. “It's not going to be a little part. It's going to be a big part. And it's going to be put in place partly because it's going to be less expensive than doing professional development.”

Seth Fletcher, Scientific American

Tech saves us $$$, right???

“Technology at our institution has been a cost DRIVER, not a cost cutter.” – Brian Rosenberg, President, Macalester College

NPR - Diane Rehm Show

Technology = Efficiency?“There are two big lies the educational technology

industry tells…one, you can replace the teacher. Two, you’ll save money in the process. Neither is borne out.”

-- Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times

What are our priorities?

Despite having to contend with deep budget cuts, schools are able to maintain current levels of technology growth, a surprising find from a recent survey by the Software & Information Industry Association.

HERE'S THE RUB“Budgets are not a reliable source of concrete

information. Money moves freely from one account to another. Published numbers aren’t real. You’re going to be frustrated in your research.”

-- Cincinnati Public Schools CIO

"I don't think we have enough data yet to determine whether the cost of technology saves us dollars -- in some areas it does." -- Mason City Schools, Superintendent for Curriculum & Instruction

CPS Technology Budget

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

$7,283,621 $9,477,061 $9,979,088 $14,502,699 $16,722,999

Yearly cost to 'refresh' district hardware: $7 Million

However:

We are spending much more money and a greater percentage of our budget on technology, but still CPS had to cut SEVEN tech support staff due to budget cuts. That is how much of a financial demand technology is on schools.

Mason City Schools2010-2011 2011-2012 2012-2013 2013-2014 Total

Network/Telecom Services

380,088 380,088 299,178 461,989 1,141,255

Hardware 1,263,600 1,263,600 895,200 1,337,800 3,496,600

Student Data Administrative

Systems

284,114 284,114 219,533 272,684 776,331

Software 201,907 201,907 246,715 229,355 677,977

Security 6,000 6,000 55,137 55,137 120,134

Technology Staffing/Support

1,260,341 1,230,761 1,250,455 1,450,528 3,931,744

Professional Development

47,200 47,200 50,504 54,039 151,743

Consumables 300,000 300,000 300,000 300,000 900,000

Additional 158,077 158,077 158,077 158,077 474,231

Total 3,901,327 3,871,747 3,474,799 4,323,469

“Smart” tech= Smart $$??

“But school districts that indiscriminately purchase x-number of computers, laptops, SMART Boards and the accompanying software are spending money that might have been better spent elsewhere. Training teachers and staff in the use of these new technologies takes money and time, too, further straining school budgets.” – Bonnie Thone Boyan, NY Teachers

Progress, or Profit?

"The push for advanced technology in the schoolroom [is] driven by commercial, not pedagogical, considerations . . . The leading promoter of the replacement of paper textbooks by e-books and electronic devices today is Apple, which announced at a media event last month that it dreams of a world in which every pupil reads textbooks on an iPad or a Mac."

Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times

Worst case scenario???

“The real goal here is to replace teachers with technology. There’s an assumption that you can somehow get rid of teachers, reduce their numbers and have a hundred kids in every classroom, and they’ll have one teacher and a lot of iPads or a lot of other kinds of technology. That’s a mistake because, ultimately, kids will learn or not learn based on human interactions, not based on technology.”-- Diane Ravich, Salon Magazine, September 18, 2013

What really matters?

The design of the instruction accounts for more variance in how and why people learn than the technology used to deliver the instruction.

Atsusi Hirumi, Ph.D. STEM

Associate Professor

University of Central Florida

“The message for teachers who choose to use technology in the classroom is clear — make sure the technology complements the curriculum– not overpowers it.”

– Michael Martine

If Ed. Tech. is here to stay….

Time to change course…..

“If the integration of technology in the classroom in the next ten years is to look any different from the last ten, we must focus time, money, and resources in areas that can have the greatest impact for our students, our teachers.”

--Jared KeengweDepartment of Education, Muskingum College, OH

Or else we lose this…

...and gain this.

21ST CENTURY LEARNING: THE "UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY”A GALAXY FAR, FAR AWAY

"This thing's to do,

Sith I have cause, and will, and strength, and means,

To do't . . ."

-- Hamlet (Hamlet 4.4.42-45)

Technology is Neutral?In Amusing Ourselves to Death, Postman asserts, “To be unaware that a technology comes equipped with a program for social change, to maintain that technology is neutral, to make the assumption that technology is always a friend to culture is, at this late hour, stupidity plain and simple” (157).

The “Technology Paradox”

Edward E. Gordon, author of Winning the Global Talent Showdown: “While overall younger workers are ‘tech junkies,’ they lack the talent qualifications or even interest in careers centered on designing, making, repairing or applying and managing many 21st-century technologies.”

– Gordon 2009

Mission Fulfillment"In today's globally-connected world, technology . . .[t]he challenge is how best to capture its power so that it remains a method rather than the means. Doing such will allow the activity's objective to drive and enhance technology's application as a component of mission-fulfillment."

-- Dr. Daniel Martin, President, Seattle Pacific University

Technology Counts: The Corporate World

"Students should buy the book The World is Flat. There is a chapter on global competition for students. If they don't know technology, they will be left behind."

-- Stephen Schueler former Microsoft Corporate VP of Retail Sales & Marketing

Student Engagement

“Academic and co-curricular engagement are powerful forces in both student psychosocial development and academic success. Improvement in grades & persistence has been noted [through the use of technology] . . . "

-- Junco, 2010

The “New” Educational Leader"Teachers must become comfortable as co-learners with their students and with colleagues around the world. Today it is less about staying ahead and more about moving ahead as members of dynamic learning communities. The digital-age teaching professional must demonstrate a vision of technology infusion and develop the technology skills of others. These are the hallmarks of the new education leader."

—Don Knezek, ISTE CEO, 2008

SURVEY RESULTS"More matter with less art . . ." -- Gertrude (Hamlet 2.2.95)

Sorry, but age does matter…..

As is the case among the full adult population, differences in technology use emerge between older and younger teachers. Specifically:

● Teachers under age 35 are more likely than teachers age 55 and older to describe themselves as “very confident” when it comes to using new digital technologies (64% vs. 44%)

-- Pew Internet and American Life Project

Old Dogs, New Tricks...

AP and NWP teachers outpace the general adult population in almost all measures of personal tech use, yet 42% feel their students know more than they do when it comes to using digital tools.

-- Pew Internet and American Life Project

Survey Questions

• Does technology aid in efficiency, efficacy and engagement?

• Does the tech-heavy classroom actually prepare students for college and career?

• Do the actual costs outweigh the benefits?

• Where will we find the time?

Stage 1: Awareness I am aware technology exists, but have not used it, and am perhaps avoiding it.

Stage 2: Learning the Process. I am sometimes frustrated .Stage 3: Understanding and ApplicationStage 4: Familiarity and confidenceStage 5: Adaptation to Other Contexts Stage 6 : Creative Application to New Contexts

DIGITAL NATIVES VS. DIGITAL IMMIGRANTS

"Thus . . . the native hue of resolution

Is sicklied over with the pale cast of thought

And enterprises of great pitch and moment

With this regard their currents turn away

And lose the name of action . . ."

-- Hamlet (Hamlet 3.1.83-89)

Who are THEY?

• "Social media allows

outlet for identity

exploration to occur

through peer

feedback and

strengthening of

relationships."

-- Pempek, 2008

Who are THEY?

"Self-disclosure helps by getting feedback from peers that helps develop a sense of self and strengthens existing relationships."

-- Pempek et al, 2010

BEGIN AT THE BEGINNING

1. The effectiveness of technology is embedded in the effectiveness of other school improvements.”

2. Technology works best when it serves clear educational goals.

3. Evaluating the impact of technology on student learning requires a look at a broad spectrum of factors beyond test scores.-- Mason City Schools Technology Report, 2012

What’s Driving the Bus?ISTE identified key drivers of educational technology adoptions for the period of 2012 through 2017.

1. Online learning, hybrid learning and collaborative models.2. The abundance of resources and relationships are made easily accessible via the Internet.3. The cost of technology is dropping; school districts are revising access policies; students are bringing their own mobile devices.

4. People expect to be able to work, learn, and study whenever and wherever they want. “JUST-IN-TIME- LEARNING” and “DISCOVERED LEARNING”.

5. Increasingly, technology skills are critical to success in almost every arena, and those who are more facile with technology will advance while those without access or skills will not. The digital divide, once seen as a factor of wealth, is now seen as a factor of education.

6. There is a new emphasis in the classroom on more challenge-based, active learning.

Oscar Wilde, Lewis Carroll meet in innovative classroom

"When students enter room 308, deep within the confines of the $45 million Mason High School, they find themselves entering a time warp that leads to Victorian England. . . . Their guide and muse is British literature teacher Nikki Wilson, who transforms the classroom in Southwest Ohio's most modern high school into a historic time capsule of classic learning . . ."

Michael Clark, Cincinnati Enquirer

Blake’s (real) Blackboard Page

The Brave New World of Ed-Tech

The International Society of Technology Education (2012 Horizon Report) claims that the following are in our future:

Near-term Horizon -- NOW1. Mobile Devices & Apps (BRING YOUR OWN DEVICE)

2. Tablet Computing -- High-resolution screens allow users of tablets, such as the iPad and Galaxy, to easily share content, images, and video.

Mid-term Horizon -- Two to three years away from widespread adoption1. Game-based learning -- LUMOSITY, I3 2. Personal Learning Environments (PLEs) -- Cloud

computing, mobile devices -- SKYDRIVE, GOOGLEDOCS, DROPBOX

“Do you see yonder CLOUD that’s almost in

shape of a camel?”-- Hamlet, Act 3

“A touch, a touch, I do confess ’t.”-- Hamlet, Act 5

“The question they're contemplating now, he says, is this: How do you make the whole room into a natural user interface . . . . a room filled with sensors that can detect which student is interacting with the technology and then base activities and content on that student's learning style and progress[?]”-- Jennifer Roland, Edtech Magazine

In a Universe Not Too Far Away . ..Far-term Horizon -- Four to five years away from widespread adoption

● Augmented Reality (AR) -- "History and science museums use augmented reality in creative ways to show visitors the science behind a phenomena as it happens, or what a building looked like centuries ago as they view it through the camera on their smartphones or tablets . . ."

And . . .

● Natural User Interface -- "Allow computers to respond to gestures, motions of the body, facial expressions, voice, sound and other environmental cues . . .[They] are replacing the keyboard and mouse as the standard for computer/human interaction."

As The World Turns . . .

"Education is at a major turning point . . .If we're not going to [mimic the information students consume] every day, then we're going to lose them."-- Powell High School Dean of Students James Kapptie

The Future?Cameron Evans, national tech-nology officer for Microsoft Education, claims: "For hundreds of years, we have had to adapt to technology. Now, we are having the technology adapt to us."

--Edtech Magazine October

2012

HAMLET 2.0: TECHIE LESSONS

"Suit the action to the word, the word to the action . . ."

-- Hamlet (Hamlet 3.2.15)

Just What Are We Aiming To Do?

• Facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity

• Design and develop digital-age learning experiences and assessment

• Model digital-age work and learning• Promote and model digital citizenship and

responsibility• Engage in professional growth and leadership

-- International Society for Technology Education

Typography: The old Technology?

"Typography fostered the modern idea of individuality, but it destroyed the medieval sense of community and integration."-- Neil Postman, Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse

in the Age of Show Business

Words, words, words? ☺

Blogs and e-Portfolios

“Electronic Portfolios (e-Portfolios) are dynamic, developmental spaces representing your professional ‘self’ on the Web. They are becoming standard practice for academics, students, and professionals and typically include examples of skills and achievements, as well as a reflective blog element.”

(http://portfolio.psu.edu)

Educational Benefits of Blogs

•Highly motivating to students, especially those who otherwise might not become participants in the classroom.•Excellent opportunities for students to read and write.•Effective forums for collaboration and discussion.•Powerful tools to enable scaffolded learning or mentoring to occur.

(www.glencoe.com)

“This Thing's To Do”: Getting Started-- Hamlet, Act 4

1. Blogger/Blogspot

2. Edline/Blackboard

3. Wordpress

4. Some other cool ones . . .

● http://www.wix.com/● http://www.weebly.com/● http://creativecommons.org/● Adobe Creative Cloud

“Words, Words, Words . . .” (and video . . .and graphics)

1. Classroom Management

• Edline• Blackboard/Blackboard Exchange

2. Collaboration

3. Discussion

4. Student Portfolios

“The Play’s The Thing . . .”

1. Design choices

2. Professional “image”

3. Reflection and progress

3. Measurable goals and benchmarks

● http://enorfasreesp.blogspot.com --

East Norfolk Sixth Form College

● http://leeangelaapenglish2013.blogspot.com/● http://singurisrinidhiapenglish2014.blogspot.com/● http://buscherika2013.blogspot.com/● http://lijoannaapenglish2014.blogspot.com/

CP English Hamlet E-Portfolioshttp://kellyokies95.blogspot.com/http://andrewwoodruffhamlet.blogspot.comhttp://britlithamlet.blogspot.comhttp://laurenshamletproject.blogspot.com

AP English Final Project PortfoliosGain an in-depth perspective on the cultural commentary or critique of an author as exhibited through his or her exhibition of style, including an exploration of how the he or she utilizes literary devices to establish meaning and communicate purpose to his or her audience through multiple texts.

http://kingstonandalvarez.blogspot.com

http://apbritlithennekesm.blogspot.com

http://jeanettewinterson.blogspot.com

http://Margaretatwoodbypaigerichie.blogspot.com

TO TWEEET OR NOT TO TWEEET?

http://blackboardtoblackboard2013.blogspot.com/

BibliographyBoylan, Bonnie Thone . “Technology in the Classrooms – Too Much of a Good Thing?” NY Teachers . Web . 1 Feb 2013 Bruff, Derek . CFT Director . “Lessons Learned from Vanderbildt’s First MOOCs” . Vanderbildt University Center for Teaching Sept. 2013 Devlin, Keith – Devlin’s Angle Nov 12, 2012 Bloghttp://devlinsangle.blogspot.com/2012/11/mooc-lessons.html Greenfield, Patricia. University of California - Los Angeles. "Is Technology Producing a Decline In Critical Thinking And Analysis?." ScienceDaily, 29 Jan. 2009. Web. 7 Feb. 2013.

Fletcher, Seth . “How Big Data Is Taking Teachers Out of the Lecturing Business” . Scientific American . 29 July 2013 . http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=how-big-data-taking-teachers-out-lecturing-business&page=4

Bibliography

Fujimoto, Kell and Cara, Elizabeth . “MOOC mashup: San Jose State University -- Udacity Experiment With Online-Only Courses Fizzles” . San Jose Mercury News . http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_23688069/

Hiltzik, Michael. "Who Really Benefits from Putting High-tech Gadgets in Classrooms?" Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 04 Feb. 2012. Web. 08 Feb. 2013. Hirumi, Atsusi, Ph.D. “Does the Use of Technology Improve Learning?The Answer Lies in Design” . White Paper. https://www.mheonline.com/glencoemath/pdf/technology.pdf

Bibliography

Keengwe, Jared . Department of Education, Muskingum College, OH, . Journal of Information Technology Educationhttp://informingscience.org/jite/documents/Vol6/JITEv6p169-180Keengwe218.pdf

Kolowich, Steve . “Coursera Takes a Nuanced View of MOOC Dropout Rates” . Chronicle of Higher Education . http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/coursera-takes-a-nuanced-view-of-mooc-dropout-rates/43341 . April 8, 2013, 4:57 am

Laster, Jill . “Students Retain Information in Print-Like Formats Bette”r . Chronicle of Higher Education . 27 March 2010 .http://chronicle.com/blogPost/Students-Retain-Print/22088/

BibliographyMartine, Michael. MMcateer. “Too Much of a Good Thing? Overuse of Technology in the Classroom.” MMcateer’s Weblog. Web. 4, January 2013 Roland, Jennifer. “Do Natural User Interfaces Have a Place in School?” Edtech Magazine. October 22, 2012.

Ravich, Diane . Sara Scribner Interview. Salon Magazine – 18 September 2013 Ribeiro, Ricky. “There’s More to Game-Based Learning than Meets the Eye”. EdTech Magazine. August 23, 2013.

Richtel, Matt “Growing Up Digital – Wired for Distraction.” NY Times . Nov 21, 2010 . http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/21/technology/21brain.html?_r=0 Rosenberg, James. “Technology in the Classroom: Friend or Foe?” Huffington Post. 26 October, 2012 . web. 4 January 2013