Link to screencast Wicked Problem
Wicked Problem Project
(Authored by Marcus Clark)
CEP 812
Fall 2011
The Educational Need
One responsibility we have as educator, which is critical, is to improve the learning of our students. Having the ability to provide the correct assessment is both challenging and rewarding and shows what learning has taken place or lack of. Student assessment is for both student and teacher. The more we as educators know about students and their learning experiences, the better we can meet learning needs and establish a positive learning environment.
The Solution
Students learn a concept better when they have to teach it or when they have the resources that provide hands on experimentation. With student created tutorials, future students have a database of resources to refer to. Peer tutoring is a great way for students to hear and see information in new and refreshing ways. Students will use programs such as, but not limited to, Jing, Movie Maker, Prezi, Screencast, PowerPoint, Blogs, and Wikis. For example, students will take an objective like saving a file, and use Jing to capture their screen and record the steps to complete the task. After the completion of the recorded tutorial, students will watch other classmate’s videos and follow their tutorial. Students who viewed their video will in return provide feedback.
Scope
Using technology for student assessment will be ongoing throughout the school year. The tool will be used after each objective and standard has been taught or after each chapter is completed. Its important to ensure that students have an understanding of the objective and standard being taught before moving to the next one. If a student fails to understand say Chapter 1, the student will not connect to Chapter 2, which builds on information learned from the previous chapter. Students in grades 10 through 12, in Business Information Management (BIM) will be exposed to this type of learning, but is open to any educator, or any class that wants to incorporate it into their lesson design.
The Research
I discovered forums like The National Teaching and Learning Forum, where teachers collaborate through email and blog usage. There are many teachers who have showed interest in addressing the educational need of student assessment. Articles from NCET and ALTER will be used such as "Using Technology to Assess Student Learning", along with information from programs such as Prezi, Screencast, Movie Maker, and PowerPoint.
Google and Yahoo were the main search engines to provide information that was viable. It was difficult to find exact resources containing the exact phrase I was searching for. While performing this search I didn’t realize how much reading was necessary. It’s important to get a full understanding of the information that is presented to determine if it relates and can be applied to the goal I am searching for. Next time I perform a search for resources, I would search more using online libraries for books and articles.
Application of TPACK
Implementing technology to improve student assessment will require the educator to continue learning as technology advances. Each tool that is capable of providing assessment will need to be explored by the teacher to get a full understanding of how it should be used in class. Jing will provide a visual of what the student understanding of how to perform at task really is. For example, having a student change the line spacing in a document. Having students use Jing to show how to complete this task will show if students actually know how to perform the task without taking unnecessary steps. The steps should show the student right clicking and selecting paragraph, then click on indents and spacing, and finally changing the line spacing. This tool will also require the student to practice the performance task repeatedly before applying and recording their steps.
The use of Prezi should be considered as a tool for teaching presentations. Prezi will be used as a substitute and extension of learning Microsoft PowerPoint and Open Office Impress/Presentation This software allows the student to play with the various visual elements and transitions, making it easier to create standard PowerPoint presentations. The use of Prezi is similar to what was done earlier when learning to create slide-show presentations. By allowing students to explore with different visual presentations, it changes the attitude of learning how to present a powerful standing presentation of information. The Prezi software opens up a new world between whiteboards and slides that was not available prior to this technology.
Effective teaching comes with an awareness of the common misconceptions and ways of looking at them. There is a misconception from students that to have a good PowerPoint presentation, there needs to be loads of information and images covering a slide. Students will be taught the importance of quality not quantity. There are multiple alternative teaching strategies that may be applied. For example, providing strict guidelines of what the teacher wants to see. Nothing more and nothing less. A second strategy may consist of having no boundaries, letting the student think on their own. Leading to the educator providing individual feedback to each student. To extend the learning and understanding of the student, that same information used in the PowerPoint can be applied to the software Prezi. Students will be able to see a difference in presentation styles among the programs and decide which works better for that particular assignment. This allows students to make connections between the learning objectives and content ideas.
Plan for Implementation
The plan for implementation during this course will require me to adjust the daily lesson plan delivery to my students. I will need to rework the time frame for each objective and standard being taught. Student created tutorials will require me giving the students time to create their projects based on what they have learned. I'm estimating an additional 2 weeks for completion.
The assessment will become deeper as a result of what I have learned during the course and the work on my Wicked Project. For next year or next semester for my students, a plan will be in devised that includes a time frame that has a place for creating student tutorials.
I will know that I was successful based on the student’s ability to collect and analyze the standards taught and present that information correctly using technology. Throughout the course, students will be commenting on each tutorial created and provide commentary if and when the learner used the information. Based on the tutorials used, I will be able to tell if the students received an understanding of the standards. In their presentation, students must show each step to what they are trying to explain. For example, saving a file, students will use a program such as Jing to show and describe the steps that will show the visitor how to save a file.
Formative
The project was not quite implemented as plan, although we as a class were able to accomplish the task, I wanted every student to have access to Jing on their own computer. The main objective of this assignment was to assess if the students learned and were able to save a file correctly. When it was all said and done, the project was implemented.
Summative
Overall, I was impressed with how quickly students learned to use Jing. We explored both screen shots and video capturing with this assignment. The project was to create a tutorial on how to save a file. The objective of the assignment was to assess students understanding of how to save a file. After the completion of the assignment, students will view another student’s project to see if the tutorial works. Students will access student blogs to view and provide a comment to two other students. Click here to view one student’s tutorial on how to save a file.
Recommendations
I would have the IT staff in our district to load the software onto the student’s computers before the beginning of the school year. Given the slow delay that students were experiencing with Jing, I would look into using or having another program on standby such as Screencast-O-Matic. To ensure quality voice recordings, I would locate a room that was big enough and one with carpet to reduce noise distractions.
I would recommend others who would like to implement the use of Jing or any other similar program to make sure that the program is available to every student. Also make sure that you have enough equipment for all students to use. If students are not actively engaged in the project, you may experience behavior problems. Be proactive and have additional work available to those who are waiting for other students to finish.
In Conclusion
You now know that the technological pedagogical content knowledge refers to the knowledge and understanding of the interplay between CK, PK and TK when using technology for teaching and learning according to the article, (What is Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge? by Schmidt, Thompson, Koehler, Shin, and Mishra). Students are fully engaged while taking responsibility for their own learning. Not only are students just learning anymore, they are becoming an expert in the standards and objectives set by the teacher, and progressing into peer educators.
By viewing instructional screen casts, most students learn how to successfully complete an objective. Students are able to transfer their knowledge of the concepts involved in the process and apply it to their created tutorials. I will continue to use screen capturing and recordings in my classroom. I believe that it will provide a new way for students to learn and become comfortable performing the objectives and standards of the class. On the next project, I want students to create tutorials using Jing to show how to bold, italicize, underline, and change the color of the font and type.
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