Context -
This project will take place in a sixth grade science classroom in a rural district in West Michigan. Greenville, Michigan has a population of approximately 18,000, and 3,000 of those residents are school-aged children. The current rate of students receiving free or reduced lunch is currently above 50%. Many families are without consistent internet access due to financial constraints.
The middle school is entering its second year in a pilot program with Verizon Wireless to provide mobile devices with 3G service to students. Last school year, 300 middle school students participated in the pilot with both smartphones and tablets. This year, there will be 900 students participating in the middle school with mobile devices. This particular lesson will be taught to 150 sixth graders.
Other technologies available in the classrooms are a teacher computer (Greenville operates both Mac and PC platforms at teachers’ choice), a document camera, and overhead projectors. Wireless internet infrastructures were just updated within the past school year to support the pilot program, however, access is only given to those with district owned mobile devices. The bandwidth and filter system are still works in progress. The long term district goal for technology is to support a “bring your own device” system where students, teachers, and guests are welcome to bring their own devices to support teaching and learning.
Content -
The objective of this unit is that students will use their critical thinking skills to analyze, critique, and evaluate different sources of information for credibility. Along with that, students will learn different techniques to obtain search results that are most relevant to their needs.
The most challenging part of this lesson will be “undoing” what students have learned in the past about internet searches. Many students would classify themselves as highly capable internet searchers, when in fact, their knowledge goes no further than typing phrases or questions into a search engine. My past experiences have led me to believe that no formal instruction has ever taken place on internet searching before students reach the middle school, and what students do know is from “trial and error” on their own part. Students also often believe that anything published (whether newsprint, internet, etc) is true. They do not take a “critical eye” to what they read, and form their own opinions on it, they simply take it at face value. This lesson will work to train students’ “critical eye” to analyze and evaluate information before they count on it to be the truth.
The evidence that I have that the above challenges will occur is from my own teaching experiences. In the past, I have made efforts to do a “crash course” in internet searching and evaluating information. The unfortunate part is that after the lesson, students go right back to their old ways of searching, and are in such a hurry to do the research they never take the time to critique the information. Hopefully, with the new technology and with more frequent use and reminding, the old ways will become ancient history, and students will embrace new search techniques and will be reminded of using their critical thinking skills when evaluating new information.
Technology -
The technology that seems best suited for this problem is the Samsung Galaxy tablets that all of my students will have this year. This is going to be the best solution for many reasons. First of all, students will be able to complete work either at school, or at home via the 3G plan. This will allow more time to collaborate with peers and complete the work. Time has always been a huge constraint because so many students did not have the access to technology outside of school. These tablets eliminate that problem. Secondly, this option also makes sense because at least half of the students I have this year (out of 150 total) will have had these devices last year. This makes the technology familiar to them, thus the “learning curve” of operation will be minimal. For those students who have not have the tablets in the past, the buddy system, where a student who is familiar helps another student who is not familiar, works great. Lastly, this technology makes sense due to the fact that students will have the device with wireless access right in the classroom. It takes time to transport 30 students per hour back and forth to the computer lab, log in, boot up, etc. With the mobile devices, the technology will be right at their fingertips.
Pedagogy-
Mobile one-to-one tablets for my students will create many opportunities to not only deliver my lesson of focus, but to practice those skills on a daily basis. The following techniques and methods will be used to deliver the content of my lesson:
The Total PACKage -
Pedagogy and content this year will be heavily altered by a dramatic change in technology this year. In the past, my school district has had approximately 50-60 computers (in two labs) available for teachers to check out for classroom use. This year, those labs will have been completely eliminated, and for many of the students in the school, they will go from using computers once or twice per quarter, to daily use. It is because of this daily use that what was once a technologically limited pedagogy, will become a daily immersion in technology use. This daily activity is what makes teaching critical thinking of resources and using effective techniques to retrieve credible sources even more important.
Students’ past experiences with technology in past years before coming to the middle school seemingly is minimal, as they continued with such limited access to computers. Student's search techniques were the result of their own “trial and error”, and when they found something even relatively successful, they continued. It is this inaccurate background knowledge that will be difficult to reverse when students begin learning the proper ways to search for information. Students intrinsically do not look at information with a critical eye, either. This is something that must be taught, largely through experience. Formulating one’s own opinions based on evidence, experience, and discussion is something that students must be trained to do as well. With 24 hour access to technology and the influx of information it provides at all times, students need to learn how to “filter” this information on their own for credibility.
Approximately half of the students coming in to the sixth grade this year will have had experience with mobile devices. (They participated in the pilot program last year.) Although the focus of my DreamIT is to get students to think critically about information at hand, and to develop their skills of finding credible sources, a large part of what I do this coming year will be getting students to use their devices effectively.
Two things that I believe will transform my teaching and my students’ learning this year will be to use their mobile devices for collaboration, and for access to tools to help them reflect on their experiences. Dewey identified the four natural impulses of a child are to inquire, communicate, construct, and express. The use of the mobile devices easily hits all four of Dewey’s impulses, as the devices allow students to access information and get answers to their questions at all times, it allows them to communicate and collaborate with their teachers and peers, and they can construct media (videos, web pages, podcasts, etc) that allow them to express their knowledge from many different ways.
Overall, I am looking forward to the challenge that the new school year will bring me. It is sure to be a learning experience for all!
This project will take place in a sixth grade science classroom in a rural district in West Michigan. Greenville, Michigan has a population of approximately 18,000, and 3,000 of those residents are school-aged children. The current rate of students receiving free or reduced lunch is currently above 50%. Many families are without consistent internet access due to financial constraints.
The middle school is entering its second year in a pilot program with Verizon Wireless to provide mobile devices with 3G service to students. Last school year, 300 middle school students participated in the pilot with both smartphones and tablets. This year, there will be 900 students participating in the middle school with mobile devices. This particular lesson will be taught to 150 sixth graders.
Other technologies available in the classrooms are a teacher computer (Greenville operates both Mac and PC platforms at teachers’ choice), a document camera, and overhead projectors. Wireless internet infrastructures were just updated within the past school year to support the pilot program, however, access is only given to those with district owned mobile devices. The bandwidth and filter system are still works in progress. The long term district goal for technology is to support a “bring your own device” system where students, teachers, and guests are welcome to bring their own devices to support teaching and learning.
Content -
The objective of this unit is that students will use their critical thinking skills to analyze, critique, and evaluate different sources of information for credibility. Along with that, students will learn different techniques to obtain search results that are most relevant to their needs.
The most challenging part of this lesson will be “undoing” what students have learned in the past about internet searches. Many students would classify themselves as highly capable internet searchers, when in fact, their knowledge goes no further than typing phrases or questions into a search engine. My past experiences have led me to believe that no formal instruction has ever taken place on internet searching before students reach the middle school, and what students do know is from “trial and error” on their own part. Students also often believe that anything published (whether newsprint, internet, etc) is true. They do not take a “critical eye” to what they read, and form their own opinions on it, they simply take it at face value. This lesson will work to train students’ “critical eye” to analyze and evaluate information before they count on it to be the truth.
The evidence that I have that the above challenges will occur is from my own teaching experiences. In the past, I have made efforts to do a “crash course” in internet searching and evaluating information. The unfortunate part is that after the lesson, students go right back to their old ways of searching, and are in such a hurry to do the research they never take the time to critique the information. Hopefully, with the new technology and with more frequent use and reminding, the old ways will become ancient history, and students will embrace new search techniques and will be reminded of using their critical thinking skills when evaluating new information.
Technology -
The technology that seems best suited for this problem is the Samsung Galaxy tablets that all of my students will have this year. This is going to be the best solution for many reasons. First of all, students will be able to complete work either at school, or at home via the 3G plan. This will allow more time to collaborate with peers and complete the work. Time has always been a huge constraint because so many students did not have the access to technology outside of school. These tablets eliminate that problem. Secondly, this option also makes sense because at least half of the students I have this year (out of 150 total) will have had these devices last year. This makes the technology familiar to them, thus the “learning curve” of operation will be minimal. For those students who have not have the tablets in the past, the buddy system, where a student who is familiar helps another student who is not familiar, works great. Lastly, this technology makes sense due to the fact that students will have the device with wireless access right in the classroom. It takes time to transport 30 students per hour back and forth to the computer lab, log in, boot up, etc. With the mobile devices, the technology will be right at their fingertips.
Pedagogy-
Mobile one-to-one tablets for my students will create many opportunities to not only deliver my lesson of focus, but to practice those skills on a daily basis. The following techniques and methods will be used to deliver the content of my lesson:
- Group Discussion - Students will discuss in small groups multiple sources of information and rate the sources of information based on their prior knowledge of what makes a resource credible or not. The teacher will also lead a whole-group discussion of the results of the activity.
- Independent Work - Students will work independently (with teacher guidance) to research a controversial environmental topic. Students will also work independently to create their own resource (such as a web page) to communicate their findings.
- Gallery Walk - Students will display their research and comment on other’s research by doing a gallery walk. A gallery walk is when students display their work, while walking around the classroom learning about others’ projects and giving feedback to them.
- Think-Pair-Share - Students will make a quick “at a glance” analysis of an informational resource, then share what they think about it with one other person, and then the pair will report out what they have discussed. This is a great way to start a group discussion so all students participate.
- Video Tutorials - Students will watch the Common Craft video Web Search Strategies for a brief introduction to web search strategies. The Common Craft videos are great ways to introduce many new topics. Students may also watch the Common Craft videos on Social Bookmarking (so they can share their resources and research with others), Wikis, Web Browsers, and the World Wide Web.
The Total PACKage -
Pedagogy and content this year will be heavily altered by a dramatic change in technology this year. In the past, my school district has had approximately 50-60 computers (in two labs) available for teachers to check out for classroom use. This year, those labs will have been completely eliminated, and for many of the students in the school, they will go from using computers once or twice per quarter, to daily use. It is because of this daily use that what was once a technologically limited pedagogy, will become a daily immersion in technology use. This daily activity is what makes teaching critical thinking of resources and using effective techniques to retrieve credible sources even more important.
Students’ past experiences with technology in past years before coming to the middle school seemingly is minimal, as they continued with such limited access to computers. Student's search techniques were the result of their own “trial and error”, and when they found something even relatively successful, they continued. It is this inaccurate background knowledge that will be difficult to reverse when students begin learning the proper ways to search for information. Students intrinsically do not look at information with a critical eye, either. This is something that must be taught, largely through experience. Formulating one’s own opinions based on evidence, experience, and discussion is something that students must be trained to do as well. With 24 hour access to technology and the influx of information it provides at all times, students need to learn how to “filter” this information on their own for credibility.
Approximately half of the students coming in to the sixth grade this year will have had experience with mobile devices. (They participated in the pilot program last year.) Although the focus of my DreamIT is to get students to think critically about information at hand, and to develop their skills of finding credible sources, a large part of what I do this coming year will be getting students to use their devices effectively.
Two things that I believe will transform my teaching and my students’ learning this year will be to use their mobile devices for collaboration, and for access to tools to help them reflect on their experiences. Dewey identified the four natural impulses of a child are to inquire, communicate, construct, and express. The use of the mobile devices easily hits all four of Dewey’s impulses, as the devices allow students to access information and get answers to their questions at all times, it allows them to communicate and collaborate with their teachers and peers, and they can construct media (videos, web pages, podcasts, etc) that allow them to express their knowledge from many different ways.
Overall, I am looking forward to the challenge that the new school year will bring me. It is sure to be a learning experience for all!