812 Wicked Problem Project

Below is my recorded presentation using Prezi and Jing. Due to time limitations on the free version of Jing, I had to create three separate files which I combined in a playlist on Screencast.com. I've also included the explanation of the problem, solution, and addressed the TPACK questions.

In regards to my audience, as I've mentioned before, I will be teaching a brand new course this fall. The head of the math department was aware that I'd be taking grad courses this summer, therefore my chosen audience will be the math chair and the rest of the math department (with the understanding that I did work for the Applied Math class in my MSU grad course). The intent is to convince them that this particular project will be beneficial to engaging students through researching math professions that interest them. In addition, I stressed that a goal of mine was to establish a community of learners right from the beginning, and I believe this project will help foster that. I'm excited to implement this project in the fall and hope you enjoy listening about my progress in creating it this summer!

The problem:
This fall I will be teaching a new course entitled “Applied Mathematics” which is intended for high school students who demonstrate a need to reduce the Algebra II requirement in the Michigan Merit Curriculum due to academic difficulty in Algebra I and/or Geometry. Understanding the daily applications of math in real world settings is a challenge for many students, and unfortunately, many high school students feel a disconnect between their math courses and their real lives due to a lack of real world examples and activities in the classroom. The opportunity presented in this situation is to engage my students by making concrete connections through a pre-assessment/personal inventory activity to encourage more positive attitudes toward learning mathematics.

The solution:

To address this educational issue, I’ve created a WebQuest in which students will explore the role mathematics plays in various professions. In this WebQuest, students will select one profession of interest to them and complete short 1-2 minute video blogs that share one or two mathematical concepts that are important for that particular job/profession and one or two interesting points they learned about the selected job/profession from their research.

In order to promote authentic student engagement, students need to feel motivated and connected to the course material. The WebQuest and video blog aim to engage students by encouraging them to take a personal interest in the course. Throughout the course of the year, I plan to cater to the unique interests of my students (in homework sets, project proposals, etc.) in the hopes that I can help them make real-world connections to their future ambitions. For example, I may have a student who does not believe he/she will attend college, but will focus on working in construction instead. Knowing this as the teacher, I can utilize examples that are pertinent to a specific profession/interest.

TPACK Model

TP: What is the TP knowledge for the solution?

In preparation for my new students who have shown an academic need for careful planning and extra support, I believe that the online WebQuest will provide a structured research project for students who might otherwise feel overwhelmed by the task. In addition to the WebQuest, including video blogs will also encourage the blending of technology and pedagogy (TPK) by providing an opportunity for students to work with technologies they will most likely encounter in a professional realm later in their lives. It also encourages students to take advantage of a creative outlet for sharing what they learned from the project. I believe that incorporating the WebQuest research with the video blogs supports the objective of engaging students by making concrete connections to encourage more positive attitudes toward learning mathematics.

In order to promote authentic student engagement, students need to feel motivated and connected to the course material.  Choosing to create a WebQuest and having students create their own video blogs encourages them to take a personal interest in the course. For this particular project, my pedagogical objective is to engage students in class material through focusing on their own personal investment in their learning.

TC: What is the TC knowledge for the solution?

The content of this course will feature interwoven strands of algebra and functions, statistics, and probability, with a focus on applications of mathematics.  Students will learn to recognize and describe important patterns that relate quantitative variables and develop strategies to make sense of real-world data. The course will develop students’ abilities to solve problems involving chance and to approximate solutions to more complex probability problems by using simulation. As previously mentioned, the initial goal is to create a community of learners by encouraging positive attitudes toward learning math. I believe that providing an opportunity for students to research (math-related) professions in greater depth (TCK) will encourage a greater understanding of math in the real-world and will be valuable resources for students when looking for relevant, real-world examples to support more complex mathematical concepts.

PC: What is the PC knowledge for the solution?

The overall goal of this project, with consideration and application of the TPACK model, is to capitalize on students’ personal interests by providing a structured, well-organized research opportunity in which they explore the role mathematics plays in various professions (PCK). Through this assignment, students will select one profession of interest to them and complete video blogs that share one or two mathematical concepts that are important for that particular job/profession and one or two interesting points they learned about the selected job/profession from their research.

811 Final Reflection

Overall, I've enjoyed 811 and feel that I was introduced to many new tools and technologies I might not have explored had I not taken the course. Though I've only taken 810, 811, and 812, I've enjoyed the objectives and focus of 811 the most thus far.

Prior to this course, I was not familiar with UDL principles or STAIRs (at least not formally) and feel that I have benefited from considering these principles and creating my own STAIR (which I plan to use this fall). What I have learned about effective teaching strategies when integrating technology into the classroom is that which tools I choose to use and how I decide to utilize them must be meaningful, relevant, and effective in addressing MI English and math standards. More often than not, technology is included in lessons because that's what many teachers think they need to do in order to "update" their lessons for the 21st century. I do believe that recursive teaching and backwards planning will help me to create more meaningful lessons which capitalize on the benefits of using technology in the classroom.

Interestingly enough, I've developed websites in the past using other tools (i.e. iWeb), but genuinely enjoyed interacting with other web-based technologies (i.e. Google sites). As an English teacher (though I believe any teacher could vouch for this), I discuss with my students how important it is to evaluate texts (especially those online), and this course helped reinforce those principles which I have already prioritized in my own teaching. Also, I believe that setting clear objectives when using technology (i.e. how will this lesson become better because I chose to use this tool?) will help me as I continue to evaluate the uses of technology in my classroom.

I believe learning is a life-long journey and enjoy using technology and learning how to make it more relevant and effective in my teaching, which is why I applied to the MAET program at MSU. Many of the personal goals I've made over the course of this summer will be easier to evaluate once I'm back in school, but I do feel that I'm more confident in using new tools such as Google Apps and have learned much more advanced processes within these applications. I don't necessarily have any "new" goals (as the objectives I've set for myself will come into practice this fall), but I do plan to utilize the resources I have at work this upcoming school year (i.e. colleagues, media specialist, etc.) in order to help me better understand new technologies I choose to integrate into my lessons. My plan is to use the new tools and applications I've learned about through this course in lessons this fall and plan to refine those lessons for the spring. Technology is always changing, therefore my plans and goals will need to change with it. Also, as as final note, MI is in an "educational limbo" as of late, and with new standards, I will need to ensure that the technology I choose to use is effective in helping my students learn.

812 Group Leadership Project

Below is the YouTube video of our Google Presentation on Google Apps. Unfortunately, this is a recording of the original presentation prior to revisions due to miscommunication between group members. I've embedded the video that was created from the unrevised version.

My group decided to use Google Presentation to create our PD tutorial because we thought it would be effective (and reinforce our explorations with Google Apps) to utilize one of the applications we had researched. Additionally, we used Camtasia to create out screencast and uploaded it to YouTube as a standalone tutorial.

Though our group had the best of intentions, developing this tutorial was challenging due to trying to coordinate five separate schedules (especially during the summer). In Part A, we tried to create a timeline for the entire project, which in retrospect was very open-ended and vague. We did not establish "set" due dates as a group, which I think caused some miscommunication. As far as the development of the project (and the tools we chose to explore), I learned more extensive applications within various Google Apps that I'm looking forward to incorporating into my classes this fall. For instance, I enjoyed researching the various options in Google Calendar such as using "flair" as a key to help students differentiate between assignments.

If I had to complete this project again, I would suggest creating a more definitive time line that everyone agreed upon (and followed up with) in order to create a polished final project. For instance, I edited all slides in Google Presentations (with speaker notes from all members), but somehow the unedited version was the one recorded and uploaded to YouTube. It was a bit frustrating to have invested time in editing the presentation to not have it reflected in our final project. Also, I believe incorporating more interactive options would be more "lively" such as adding a fun quiz at the end or even incorporating background music. 

812 Professional Learning Plan

Enjoy!

812 Part D: Findings and Implications

Part D: Findings and Implications

As I mentioned in Part A of my Wicked Problem Project, due to limited resources for implementation over the summer, I have chosen instead to create the actual WebQuest this summer and have tested all links to ensure that students will be able to access all pages in the fall. Additionally, I asked a colleague of mine for feedback on the initial stages of my WebQuest, which I shared in a podcast for Part C of my Wicked Problem Project. The actual implementation of the WebQuest activity with video blogs will be completed in the fall by students enrolled in the “Applied Mathematics” course. The opportunity addressed in my Wicked Problem Project is to engage my students by making concrete connections through a pre-assessment/personal inventory WebQuest and video blogs to encourage more positive attitudes toward learning mathematics.

The WebQuest/video blogs will span the first two weeks of school (approximately five, 90-minute class periods) with all assignments and research done in class.  At least one class period will be dedicated to showing students how to create and edit videos. Class laptops are available as well as school computer labs to complete all components of the project. Students will be responsible for completing their own WebQuests and video blogs, though I address alternatives to this requirement later in this post.

As mentioned in Part C of my Wicked Problem Project, my colleague Margaret made note that my initial instructions were a bit vague and confusing. While Margaret said this was helpful for the introduction of the assignment, she thought that presenting the project in a “checklist” fashion, explicitly stating what was expected at each point of the project would seem less daunting for students. Through creating a “checklist” of performance tasks for students, I will be able to evaluate their participation and completion of each task as we go along (formative assessments). Providing a rubric for students will also help guide them in completing all tasks related to the project. Keeping this in mind, I believe that minimizing tasks to ten subtasks will receive more positive support than asking students to complete twenty. Additionally (and this is where the advantages of an English teacher come in!), I will need to be cognizant of my wording in the “checklist.” Like Margaret mentioned, I need to use clear, direct language so students are aware of the expectations for each part of the project. It’s also important to note that as students complete the performance tasks related to the project (formative assessments), I am also evaluating, modifying, and validating instruction throughout the process. For instance, if students are struggling to use the flip cameras or video programs, I as their teacher need to plan for additional time in class for students to complete those tasks.

I believe that indicators of a successful project will be 100% participation and completion of all components of the WebQuest and video blog activity.  While participation and (minimal) completion of tasks may seem like a very generalized assumption of student engagement, merely turning in assignments for many of my students will be considered a success. As far as student engagement goes, observing students’ interactions with one another, addressing their questions related to the project, and overall, the quality of their end video blog will be a good indicator of their personal connection to the assignment. Though this type of evaluation is less data-driven, as an educator, it is important to take an inventory of students’ energy levels and attitudes regarding activities and other tasks in order to evaluate how effective the mode of learning is. For instance, if students have a poor attitude about using the flip cameras or computer software (very well due to them not feeling confident using them), as a teacher, I need to acknowledge this and address those needs. An option could be to create groups, which will ease up on the responsibility of each student having to produce a video. Or, because it’s the first project of the year, maybe asking students to complete a simpler project (i.e. a wiki page) instead of an actual video would be better. Additionally, evaluating the resources I have at school could also benefit my students. For instance, asking the computer teacher or media center technician to teach students how to use the technology might be more beneficial because it’s a different voice in the classroom and the information is also coming from a source much more experienced than myself in these particular cases. Regardless of the modifications that take place, it’s the act of assessing students’ progress along the way that will provide the most accurate information regarding their understanding and engagement.

One of my delights through creating the WebQuest was coming across Zunal, which I’m excited to introduce to my colleagues in the fall. With WebQuests becoming more common and more relevant in the classroom, Zunal makes creating WebQuests a much simpler task. In regards to creating a rubric for the project and for evaluating the WebQuest, Zunal provides an entire resource page that includes four websites dedicated to evaluating WebQuests. Though the WebQuest and video blogs aren’t clear summative assessments because they're not necessarily evaluating students’ understanding of specific mathematical concepts, I believe this project has the potential to lay a solid foundation for students as they strive to make real-world connections to new mathematical concepts over the course of the year.

812 Mobile Learning Lab

I spent some time exploring Classroom 2.0 and liked the various features (webinars, recordings, etc.) that are available for educators. I added it to my RSS feed, and I'm looking forward to reading more posts when I have some extra time. Below is the screenshot of a post I responded to in regards to including social media in the classroom.

Additionally, with exploring the various roles mobile learning can have in the classroom, I created four survey questions that I plan to use with my incoming American Lit classes this fall. The focus of the four questions is on reading. What I like about this particular website is that there are many ways to poll students. For instance, it can be an online website, polled via text messages, embedded into a Prezi, etc. Below is the link to the reading survey. I have also attached a screenshot of what the "text message" poll looks like.

Reading Survey

I was first introduced to text message polling through a fellow intern at MSU who experimented with it for one of his case studies. He did say that it was a bit time consuming to get permission from the principal and from parents (in regards to text messaging rates), but thought it was well worth it. This was two years ago, and most Acceptable Use Policies have been modified since then to accommodate for mobile technology in the classroom. I know that the high school where I teach plans to modify our AUP for this fall. I think using text messaging polls/surveys can be beneficial for gathering inventory on students for particular purposes (i.e. opinions about reading) or for short answer questions. For instance, I could see this being a great "quick quiz" tool for grammar or vocabulary. Prior to using this in my class though, I will have to get permission from my principal, check the new AUP, and okay it through parents. I'll also have to have alternatives for those students who may not have text messaging capabilities or a cell phone. Overall, I really liked Poll Everywhere over other websites I have used because it offers a variety of choices to educators, as mentioned above, and I look forward to introducing it in my classroom this fall. 

811 Online Teaching Experiences

Technology changes the way we, as teachers, and our students interact in the classroom, and there are several online resources and technologies that have the potential to transform the way students approach learning. One of the most useful technologies I've encountered are WebQuests because they are structured, inquiry-based, and support independent learning. I currently teach high school English and math and can easily see how WebQuests can be beneficial in both content areas; however, I do have a specific objective of capitalizing on the benefits of WebQuests in planning for the new Applied Math course I will be teaching this fall. This particular course is geared toward students who struggled in Algebra I and/or Geometry and show a need for an alternative to Algebra II. With that being said, I believe that using a WebQuest at the beginning of the year that involves students exploring the role mathematics plays in certain professions will capitalize on students' interests and help them make real-world connections. I believe this is a beneficial pedagogical strategy that will help engage students who might otherwise feel detached from class material. I've been working on creating this WebQuest and hope that it does have a positive effect on my students this fall.


As I mentioned earlier, there are so many resources and technologies available for students, each having their own benefits and pitfalls. Knowing the composition of one's classroom is especially important when using these technologies because though all have the potential to enhance student learning, not all technologies work well with all students. One of the technologies that I have found to be more challenging is online discussion between students. Though this may seem surprising to some, I find that assessing student learning through online discussion becomes difficult. For instance, if the requirement for an assignment is two online posts or responses, and a student doesn't necessarily have something new or particularly engaging to share, I don't think he/she should be penalized for not responding to that particular topic; however, there are alternatives to assessing these posts. For instance, revising the requirement to five posts over the course of the semester gives students more autonomy in their learning because they can choose which topics to contribute to. Overall, as a teacher and learner, I prefer discussions in person, but also realize that because our world becomes "smaller" every day via new technologies, students need to learn how to professionally interact in online discussions and forums.