What would the great thinkers say on Facebook?

Conversation 3: Wolfgang Kohler, E.L. Thorndike, John Locke

Wolfgang Kohler was a theorist who, like E.L. Thorndike, observed animals and developed theories of learning based on what he saw. However, Kohler took issue with Thorndike's methods. He felt that Thorndike's imprisonment of cats in an empty box gave them no opportunity to act intelligently. Kohler developed a series of problems for chimps that included several tools for the chimps to physically manipulate in order to retrieve a banana that lay outside of their cage. His observations led Kohler to determine that learning takes place when insight occurs; in other words, when the learner is able to mentally or even physically manipulate elements, he or she will see the connections between those elements or ideas and eventually there is an Aha! moment (insight!). Thus, the status update.

Kohler's rejection of Thorndike's experimental outcomes naturally creates the foundation for the disagreements in the above conversation. As a behaviorist, Thorndike argues that it was the reward of the banana that made the chimps act as they did. Based on the reading I have done on their experiments, I would say there is little validity in his claim. In his experiments, the cats knew nothing of the reward and fought only to escape their imprisonment in the box. The reward was given only when they got out; therefore, the learning that occurred was the knowledge that if they escaped, they got a treat. In Kohler's experiments, however, the chimps saw the banana and were given visible access to the tools needed to help them solve the problem. In this case, the learning that occurred demonstrated more about the animal's ability to synthesize the options into a conclusive solution of the problem. No wonder the two could not agree!

John Locke makes a brief appearance in the conversation exclaiming his excitement over the emergence of some prewired (now unlocked) knowledge that came to Kohler. When he asks Kohler "Tell me, what happened to you that helped unlock this knowledge?", it demonstrates Locke's beliefs that learning was something that happens TO you. Kohler's response that nothing happened to him but that he (like his chimps) worked through it demonstrates a major difference between these two theorists. Locke was of the mindset that learners should be passive and that learning was something that happened to you whereas Kohler believed that learning happened because there was a mental and physical manipulation of objects and ideas. In other words, learners must be active to effectively learn.

Conversation 2: Piaget, Thorndike and Vygotsky

My focus in this conversation was on the argument between the Piagetians and the Behaviorists. In my mind, if the social constructivists had to choose a side, they would choose the side of the Piagetian. Thus, Vygotsky sides with Piaget in this conversation.

Jean Piaget gained a great following when he began to share his views as a developmentalist. Piaget believed that as a child developed, he or she went through four main stages of development. He argued that children were busy developing cognitive structures during each stage and could only move to the next stage if he or she were engaged in the proper experiences to facilitate this movement. Not only were experiences important to Piaget, it was equally important that children were active participants in their learning. It is important to note that Piaget was not strictly limiting his theory to academic learning. These stages pertain to environmental and social learning as well. It is these beliefs that have Piaget yielding the statement in his status that opens this conversation. Later in the conversation as Piaget objects to Thorndike's methods in observing learning behaviors, we see another of his core beliefs reflected. Piaget believed that it was important for learning to occur in natural settings to make context of learning more meaningful.

Lev Vygotsky, although he recognized the validity of a developmentalist approach to learning, struggled with Piaget's defined stages. The reason was that he felt these stages were limited to the independent level of the child and left out the child's potential for learning. His belief in the significance of this potential is evident in his invented notion of the Zone of Proximal (or potential) Development (ZPD). Vygotsky argued that you should first assess the child's independent learning level and then assess how the child would fare with assistance from an adult. Although he had issues with Piaget's theories, in the above conversation we see him begin to argue with Piaget's status but switch to a debate with Thorndike over his behaviorist views. To really illustrate the difference between Piaget and Vygotsky, he makes the statement that while he agrees with Piaget's notion of the natural environment, he would take it one step further and focus on the social constructivist idea that most of what we learn happens when we are learning with others.

E.L. Thorndike was a behaviorist and, true to the theory of a behaviorist, takes issue with Vygotsky and Piaget because of their "lack of evidence". Behaviorist study often focused on the observable- the input to the learner and the output. Thorndike was known for his work with the imprisonment of cats in a box and the use of positive reinforcement when the cat escaped. While we know that education today relies on the behaviorist theory as much as any other (evidenced by positive reinforcement systems used in classroom management), Thorndike perseverates on the idea that you can't observe stages or potential development in any scientific form. His statement of "I like my charts and graphs" was a demonstration of his need for concrete data and was meant to illustrate that this notion is what separates him from the other two theorists. Piaget and Vygotsky criticize Thorndike's use of cat imprisonment to develop his learning theories to demonstrate (as I mentioned above) their beliefs in the importance of the natural physical and social environment in learning.

Conversation 1: Plato, John Dewey and B.F. Skinner
As I began this conversation, I thought about how Plato would feel about delivering a lecture to a classroom full of students that was followed up with a negative result on a learning measurement. He is seemingly frustrated with this as he posts to his social network and asks for suggestions.
John Dewey gives a very social constructivist response and offers a suggestion that reflects his belief that students should be active participants in their learning. Later in the conversation, he repeats the suggestion to illustrate how adamant he is about his beliefs in the social nature of learning. Although Plato begins to give merit to Dewey's idea as he acknowledges the glazing stares of his passive students, he unfortunately stays true to form and reminds himself that his failure is due more to their lack of innate knowledge than his instructional strategies. This, of course, frustrates Dewey and causes him to create an impulse post of "Oh dear".
B.F. Skinner attempts to help a lost Plato by suggesting he follow Skinner's five principles for effective teaching and a controlled learning environment. Skinner was of the idea that instruction could and should be managed by learning measures. In other words, Skinner was suggesting that Plato should reflect on his instruction since the learning measure was less than desirable. Skinner disliked rote learning and punishment for students and I believe he would have seen a failed quiz as a punishment for students. As I said above, Plato reverts to his classic belief and, alas, our friends Skinner and Dewey tried in vain.

Special thanks to Phillips and Soltis' Perspectives on Learning for providing insight into the theories of these thinkers over the course of this semester.

"It's Called Listening..." Reflection

As I reflect on my work in this assignment, I am glad that I chose to interview Andy. Before the interview began, I was well aware of Andy's test scores and performance on reading tasks in the classroom and I was worried that the questions I prepared would completely throw him off. I have to say that I was completely surprised by Andy's ability to be reflective and to explain his thinking. There were times when he took longer to process. However, even when he wasn't sure about something he did his best to explain. I enjoyed seeing how confidently he answered the questions about his own reading ability.

When I went into the interview, I had a set of questions. However, as the interview continued, my teacher instincts kicked in and I let the conversation take some turns. For example, with the connection conversation, we went from discussing visualization to talking about how to make connections between two stories. It was so intriguing to watch him utilize two of the ongoing reading strategies simultaneously. My favorite response from Andy was when I asked him how he knew what to answer on the iPad and he replied "It's called Listening" (hence, the title of this interview process).

Technically, the location was not the best for recording. Our school consists of four classroom pods that are open in the middle. There are no doors...so at any given point there is no such thing as a "quiet" place. I was able to interview Andy in a teacher planning office within the pod. Luckily, it was very quiet but at the same time, it caused a little echo. I was able to change the settings enough to cut out most of the echo.

I think this interview will be very useful to the intervention team as well as Andy's teacher. We can build on Andy's self-defined strengths and provide interventions for the areas where he is not as strong. Based on my discussion with Andy, I think it would be safe to say that we can openly discuss the interventions with him and help him to advance as a reader.

"It's Called Listening..." Podcast; An Interview with a Second Grader

End of Course Reflection

Over the course of this semester, I have learned more about effective teaching strategies that are essential when integrating technology. First, I think it is important to create an environment where students feel comfortable taking risks and making mistakes. Learning with technology is not seamless- there are bound to be bumps in the road. If students feel comfortable in their environment, they will be more willing to problem solve when problems arise. This allows students to take ownership over their learning as they work through their problems. By doing this, they build real world skills as well. I feel a teacher can facilitate this environment by modeling this problem solving behavior. When integrating technology in a lesson, there are bound to be hiccups. This is a perfect time for a teacher to demonstrate that problem solving behavior and approach these hiccups as "part of the process" rather than as an inconvenience.

When integrating web-based technologies, I learned that it is important to first decide what you want students to accomplish before choosing a technology. For example, you must decide if you want them to use the technology for drill and practice, problem solving, exploration or even for acquiring a new (or newer) skill through educational gaming. It is important to have the goal in mind and then find a technology that supports that goal rather than finding a technology and forcing it to fit in to the learning.

One of my goals for this course was to find ways to first look into current educational practice and find a way for technology to be integrated into the solution. As the technology coach for my school, this is essential. A common problem of practice consistent in many schools is the communication. My goal was to use Moodle as a way to give 24 hour access to teachers to important information that has to do with curriculum, standard operating procedures, committees and access to technology tips.

My new goal is to enhance the teaching and learning in our school through technology. Specifically, I would like to see Moodle used more frequently by classroom teachers. I strongly believe that online learning is here to stay and that the education system has to embrace it early. We have already seen some states that have embedded a requirement for online learning into graduation credits. Although this has been set for the middle and high school levels, we will soon see the trickle down effect to elementary. My goal is to encourage teachers to provide these opportunities to their elementary students. This will prepare them for later experiences with online learning.

Technology can transform learning for teachers and for students. The most important lesson I learned this semester is to look for technology that supplements the curriculum rather than the other way around.

Project Evaluation

In my attempt to get Moodle off the ground as a Professional Learning Community, there is one major step I would do differently. This time, when creating the Professional Learning Communities, I asked the administration what they would like to see in this area. Next time, I will ask the teachers as well. I expect all experiences with the building of my professional learning communities to be different from here on out. This summer, when attempting to implement Moodle in this format, I did not know the staff. As the year progresses, we will all be getting to know each other. I think this will be a huge benefit to establishing expectations for the use of Moodle. Through my research, I learned that teachers give more of their effort to professional learning communities they have helped to establish. The benefit at my school is that we have the opportunity to develop EVERYTHING from the ground up since we are a brand new school. I realize that this comes with many challenges, but I foresee our teachers having more buy in because of this.

One lesson that I have learned is that setting up a Moodle course takes more than just technical ability. You also have to have pedagogical reasons for the course. As I began to set up the courses, I struggled to put more than just the "title" of the course. This was due to the fact that I was not sure what the focus or goal of the course should be. For example, in the Positive Behavior System course, I went back and forth between having areas for teachers to discuss different systems. I also thought it might be beneficial to post the behavior forms and expectations. Then I thought "why not all?. However, a good Professional Learning Community is formed to focus on an area where teachers need to improve. In the end, there were too many possibilities for the focus of the course. I decided to wait until school began and we could establish that focus as a group. This went on and on for each section. So, the moral of the story is: Establish your focus before attempting to layout your Moodle course.

This year, I will be keeping this lesson in mind as we begin to form committees and dive deeper into our professional learning communities. My plan is to assign a co-teacher for each PLC. This person will be directly involved with the committee and will facilitate the meetings and discussions. As the year progresses, my hope is that each committee will set their focus and begin building their PLC course around this focus (with my assistance of course!).

In addition, I set up a Tips & Tricks area for the teachers. This was an idea I came across in my research and was inspired to create! Here is a snapshot of how it looks so far:
Each section is created under Toggle view so teachers can focus on the section they need. This section on computer set-up gives teachers access to instructions for basic set-up of Mail, Address Book, Safari & Firefox bookmarks and iCal on their new MacBook Pro teacher computer. The course Toggle sections continue for other items like Avatar (our district professional development course sign-up center), Pasco Star (district data collector), Moodle and access to our school logo files.

I see this area of Moodle being utilized and updated frequently in the first few months of school. Throughout the year, I hope to add screencasts and other helpful items for teachers. So far, I have taken baby steps toward making Moodle an integral part of each teacher's toolkit. In the next two years, I hope to continue what I have started. If I persist in setting the expectations for Moodle and demonstrate the many possibilities of its use, I believe that Moodle will become one of the greatest assets for professional learning at Odessa Elementary.

Project Implementation

Here is the audio for my project implementation!



You can also see a vodcast that presents images discussed in this podcast!
Click Here!

Internet Research for TechQuest

Search Strategies
As I set out to research Moodle and Professional Learning Communities for my TechQuest, I did it with three goals in mind. My goals were to find resources that :

• Provided guides for implementing a professional learning community
• Demonstrated ways that Moodle or other online communities have been used as a professional learning community
  
• Illustrated ways that Moodle has enhanced teaching and learning

To begin my search, I used Michigan State University's eLibrary to search through ProQuest and ERIC on FirstSearch. I found five out of my six resources there. The last resource I found through a Google search of "Moodle Implementation". My strategy for searching was to keep my goals in mind and to continuously ask myself "how does that fit with what I aim to do?".

What helped my search?
As I searched, I found that what helped me most was changing how I worded the terms in my searches. I limited my searches to full text in order to get the "big picture" rather than a snapshot from an abstract. I searched terms like "professional learning communities", "online learning communities", "Moodle in the classroom", "benefits of Moodle", "Moodle implementation", "online learning in elementary school" and "Web 2.0 tools in professional development". I was surprised by how many documents I turned up with these searches since I originally felt that each one was too specific. Finally, with so many articles to choose from, I found it helpful to read over the abstract first. If it didn't sound like it would give me new ideas or fit into one of my goals, I would go back to the search and try again.

What hindered my search?
Since Moodle is a relatively new tool being used in schools, it was a struggle to find a wealth of examples of its implementation through published scholarly journals. I would find articles where it was mentioned as a possible tool but it was not often that an entire article was dedicated to Moodle. However, the few I did find were very powerful. Other articles would cite online learning communities as an effective tool in teaching, learning and professional development. Since Moodle encompasses the same tools as many other online learning communities, I was able to make a connection to how Moodle would provide the same opportunities for my school. During my web search, I found several sites about Moodle including the theory behind it, resources for sharing about Moodle and tutorials on Moodle. There were not alot of articles that talked about the benefits to schools through my Google search.

How will I search next time?
I really enjoyed the majority of the articles I read through the eLibrary and scholarly journals. Several of them were from educational journals that were written in a way that allowed me to connect to the information. To do it again, I would use the same resources but I may expand my search beyond just ProQuest and ERIC on FirstSearch. In the past, I have had some luck with JSTOR. I would try a web search again as well. As Moodle continues to become an integral part of virtual learning, more research and articles about its use in education will become available to educators through a traditional search engine.

TechQuest Resources

Nelson, T., LeBard, L., & Waters, C.. (2010). How to Create a Professional Learning Community. Science and Children, 47(9), 36-40. Retrieved July 20, 2010, from Education Module.
My goal was to find an article that provided a framework for a Professional Learning Community that was centered around student achievement and professional collaboration. This article provided me with some basic guidelines for what a PLC should look and sound like. Essentially, a well established PLC takes on a cyclical nature where the members begin with an inquiry focus. Teachers look for an area to improve in teaching or learning and then begin to set goals. Implementation is the second step of the PLC process. After teachers implement the strategies and collect data, the hardest part of the process begins. During the final stage of the professional learning community, teachers come together to reflect on the teaching or strategy that was implemented in accordance with the collected data. The authors note that often this is where a Professional Learning Community loses its effectiveness. The reason for this is that it is a very humbling experience for a teacher to admit that there is still room for improvement. Often, this stage takes a "proving approach" where teachers use the data to show how well it worked with statements like "80% of my students passed". In an effective PLC, the guidelines say that it should take an "improving approach" where teachers examine student work or data and say "how can I make it better?" or even "how can I reach that other 20%?". In this stage, it is important to pose more questions rather than to make a definitive statement about the results.

What can I take away from this article for use in my setting? First, it is important to have the time, resources and teacher buy-in to make a professional learning community effective. If I truly want to make my Moodle courses into PLC's, I will need to make sure that I establish consistency and leadership within each group. The leadership is the most essential component because each PLC will need a leader to be the first to admit "I can do better" and to share student achievement or lack thereof. Finally, the leader will have to be someone who can do these things as a way to set the stage for a nonthreatening environment for reflection and further improvement for the other members of the group.

Duncan-Howell, J. (2010). Teachers Making Connections: Online Communities as a Source of Professional Learning. British Journal of Educational Technology. 41(2), 324-340.
I was intrigued by this article because it shed some light on what teachers will value from an online professional learning community. This particular article focused on the feedback of teachers who had participated in three different online professional learning communities. What they found was that teachers were most engaged in these communities when they directly addressed the needs of teachers by offering practical applications for the classroom. Teachers responded better to courses or discussions that were founded on theory but did little to no presentation on theory. The four basic elements that teachers looked for in their PLC were:

• Strategies offered for practical application with students
• New ideas or strategies presented by specialists
• An ability to participate and be creative
• The ability to both present information and observe

As a result of these types of courses, 77% of participating teachers said that these memorable discussion threads and courses inspired them to change something in their everyday practice. Finally, the study found that teachers felt they were the most qualified to determine the foundational ideas or topics of the PLC's.

As a person coming from the classroom to a coaching position, I felt that this study deeply represented the true thoughts of a group of teachers. When in practice, it is very difficult to sit through loads of theory based trainings without seeing the practical application. This study will be very helpful in maintaining current Moodle PLC's and in creating new ones throughout the year. It has reminded me to think of how teachers will use it and to remember to ask for input about what kinds of learning communities they would like to be a part of.

Huber, C.. (2010, May). Professional Learning 2.0. Educational Leadership, 67(8), 41. Retrieved July 20, 2010, from Research Library Core.
This article was written by an elementary school principal about the ways in which her school has used 2.0 technologies to create a professional learning environment. She starts off by sharing the common false assumptions about the professional learning process. The false assumptions about professional learning are that passing on information is enough, information must come from outside of the school walls, and having a great plan means that learning will occur. By following this model, schools get into a habit of "going through the motions" when it comes to enhancing teacher learning. By using Web 2.0 tools, this school was able to "upgrade" their professional learning. The structure for this learning included sharing access to information looking inward for insight and protecting learning time. Strategies for sharing access to information included using wikis and Nings to share resources for a unit or get ideas for ways to differentiate within a certain area. All questions or topics in these sharing areas were decided upon by teachers. When they looked inward for insight, they would post resources as well as wikis, discussion forums or blogs for discussion. In addition, when someone attended an outside training, he or she would post to the school's Twitter page so that important thoughts to share weren't lost. Members of the PLC could comment on the posts or inquire further if necessary. Finally, to protect learning time, teachers, administration and support staff created Jings or podcasts to teach "how to" lessons like how to log in to a certain program or how to access data from a district database. This eliminated the need for extraneous meetings and allowed for teachers to revisit the directions on an as needed basis.

For me, this article was very powerful. It allowed me to see some amazing ways to differentiate how collaboration is done as well as the purposes for which it is done. It was a great example of a school that has attempted the same Moodle based professional learning community that I hope to establish and maintain over the next two years (and beyond!).

Larson, L. (May 2009). Reader Response Meets New Literacies: Empowering Readers in Online Learning Communities. The Reading Teacher, 62(8), 638-48.
For the second implementation phase of Moodle, teachers will be participating in the professional learning community as well as facilitating and online learning community for their students. This article demonstrates the power of using online learning communities in reading response through a case study. In the fifth grade classroom featured, students were studying the American Civil Rights Movement in conjunction with Black History Month and Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The teacher gave them two choices of historical fiction that related to these topics. Students were then introduced to a blog to be used as an "eJournal" to record their thoughts on the events in the stories and how they related to the Civil Rights Movement. Then, they used online discussion forums where they were expected to interact with peers by sharing ideas and feelings about the book as well as respond to questions posted by the teachers. As time went on, even the most struggling readers began to post not only more words but more meaningful thoughts. At one point, the students asked if they could construct their own questions in a discussion forum for their peers to respond to.

Since classroom teachers look for practical application, I think this case study is a powerful example to share with teachers when motivating them to introduce online learning to their students. I plan to share this resource with the teachers at the school as we begin to implement phase two and look for ways to effectively use online learning communities.

Hargadon, Steve. "Implementation Study #3: Moodle." K-12 Open Technologies. Web. 20 July 2010. .

This online resource was a part of a Moodle Implementation Study which looked at the various effective ways that five schools are using Moodle. It shows the diversity that this tools allows when using it in schools with students, teachers and administrators. This resource also gives an overview of what Moodle is and the educational pedagogy that it supports.

By reading this implementation study, I was able to look at using Moodle in different ways and think about how I want to employ it as a tool in our classrooms. Most specifically, I could relate to schools just beginning out with Moodle. One of the Michigan schools used it on an as needed basis for solving problems of practice in the classroom. I see this as being our use of Moodle for the first year of implementation for student learning communities. My goal for the first year is that teachers will participate in the Professional Learning Communities as "students" in courses that demonstrate the full capabilities of Moodle. Then, in year two, the goal is for teachers to begin to take on that responsibility of using the full capabilities with their students through virtual learning.

Hamilton, B. (2009). Transforming Information Literacy for NowGen Students. Knowledge Quest, 37(5), 48-53.
This article was written by high school Media Specialist Buffy Hamilton who is famous for "The UnQuiet Library" which she refers to as Library 2.0. She wrote this article on information literacy and ways to promote it. What was important for me in this article is that she writes about connectivism. This theory explains how technology facilitates learning because it creates a personal learning network for users to access resources, strategies and ideas. George Siemens, founder of this theory, explains it as follows: "The starting point of connectivism is the individual. Personal knowledge is comprised of a network, which feeds into organizations and institutions, which in turn feed back into the network, and then continue to provide learning to individual."

After reading this article, I decided that this theory supports what I aim to do with Moodle as a Professional Learning Community. Essentially, teachers will be part of a personal learning network where they are connected to each other and use each other for ideas, resources and strategies. In the case at my school, Moodle is the technology facilitating the learning. In addition, it can be said that Moodle is increasing the information literacy skills of our teachers who vary from digital natives to digital immigrants. I think it is important to note that it is not just students who have to adapt to a new set of information literacy skills.

TechQuest Project Description

The Four Common Places in Education:

Teachers: For the early stages of this implementation, the teachers will be the administration and the coaching team. As the focus shifts to phase 2, the teachers will include the K-5 classroom teachers.

Students: For the early stages of this implementation, the students will be the elementary teachers of Odessa Elementary. As the focus shifts to phase 2, the students will include the K-5 students in our school.

Subject Matter: Professional Development and all content areas

Context/Setting: Odessa Elementary School in New Port Richey, Florida

The Problem of Practice
This summer we are busy getting ready to open the doors of Odessa Elementary for the first time. Currently, our staff has been hired from ten different elementary schools. Recently we had our new school retreat where we spent four days getting to know each other and developing our Core Values for the new school. During this process, we really came together as a staff as we worked to develop our own identity. As we prepare to begin the 2010-2011 school year, however, there are a lot more decisions to be made and discussions to be had. As a member of the coaching team, I have asked myself "How do we continue to establish our Wildcat team?". For the duration of the summer, there is a definite need to continue what we started at the retreat so that we are ready to open the doors to students on August 16th. This problem is most important in my work as an educator at this time. In order to be successful in our first year as a new school, it is important for our staff to cooperate and put our Core Values into practice. Again, the problem lies in how we are going to continue this process between now and the start of the school year.

Why do we need to address this?
In his article, Jere Brophy sites the principles that drive effective instruction. The three principles that apply to our current needs at Odessa Elementary School are a supportive climate, thoughtful discourse and cooperative learning. The teachers in this case will be the coaches on the instructional staff (literacy coach, media coach, and technology coach) as well as the administrators while the learners will be the classroom teachers. Together, we are looking for a way to put these effective teaching principles into practice. Why is it important to solve the problem of practice? It is important because we have been given the responsibility of creating and maintaining the culture of a brand new school and we have an entirely clean slate on which to start. Every year after this will thrive on the foundation we have built. Most importantly, we have an opportunity to decide what is important to us as educators and see those beliefs carry over into the classrooms to drive student achievement. In order for this to happen, however, we need to continue to have the important discussions and make decisions. In the end, if we are successful in building a supportive climate, facilitating thoughtful discourse and encouraging collaboration and cooperative learning, our staff will become a cohesive team where each member has had his or her opinion heard and incorporated into the vision and practice of Odessa Elementary School.

Proposed technology solution
Our district has been actively pursuing the implementation of Moodle in the schools and I fully support this implementation. In this case, my proposed solution is to create a Moodle site for our school, Odessa Elementary. Within this site, I will create an area for a professional learning community. Then, within that community, I will create courses related to our ongoing work groups and discussions. For example, our Positive Behavior System work group met recently to discuss our ideas for a school wide behavior plan. To facilitate further discussion for those who could not attend, I will create a PBS course. Under that course, I will post the notes from the work groups, copies of the distributed handouts and any new documents that were created. Then, I will create a discussion forum with a prompt that will allow teachers to discuss or share an idea about the posted materials. For this particular work group, my discussion post could be "What do you like about this behavior plan? Do you have any thoughts or ideas on how to make it more effective?". During teacher planning week, we will be able to go over the Moodle discussions and posted works and make the final decisions about how they will be incorporated into our school year.

Using Moodle will be a beneficial tool in setting a positive climate, facilitating thoughtful discourse and encouraging collaboration. First, it can be accessed by all teachers from their home computers. This is especially important as we are without our new school computers at the moment. Second, it supports the district's vision for using Moodle with students as well as for professional development. Also, for those who are unable to attend work groups, it offers a chance to see the development of school related plans or ideas as well as a chance to chime in with a thought or idea. Finally, it is cost effective because Moodle is a free resource and is hosted by our district server.

As I looked into other alternatives for building a professional learning community, I quickly disregarded Blackboard due to the cost to the school. Also, I deliberated over using a wiki to create a collaborative environment. In the end, I chose Moodle because our district supports its use in our schools. Also, by choosing Moodle, I can add different collaboration features to each work group in order to expose teachers to using different Web 2.0 tools. For example, in one work group I may use a discussion forum to engage teachers while I may choose to use a wiki in another so teachers can add to the previously posted work or ideas. I will also be able to set up a blog where the users can post their ideas as separate entries that answer the discussion prompt. Essentially, it is multifaceted and therefore Moodle will be the most effective technology tool.

There are several schools that have used Moodle in a similar way and have been successful. Here are some case study examples of schools that have used Moodle as a professional learning community. These cases helped me decide on implementing this tool.

• Pasco County Schools, Florida: This is the district in which I work. Our district leaders set up their own Moodle universe called LEARN (Learn Easily and Right Now). Within this platform, departments, such as the Elementary Math Department, have set up courses to give teachers access to curriculum maps, lesson plans, and online resources. In this way, our district created a Professional Learning Community where teachers across the district can access what they need as well as engage in forums to ask questions and share ideas. I used it often as a classroom teacher to access information, documents and ideas. Now, as a technology coach, I use the Instructional Media and Technology department course to talk with coaches from other schools to get ideas and share resources.

• Clarksville-Montgomery County School System, Tennessee: In this district, they started using Moodle as a way for teachers to take online courses that would normally be taken in face-to-face environments as trainings. Their goal was for teachers to first become fluent in using the features of Moodle before they were responsible for managing their own course. It then evolved into literacy coaches at the middle and high school level using Moodle courses to help implement a reading intervention program. They used Moodle to troubleshoot, problem solve and communicate about the use of the program. The coach facilitated this course and they were able to build support for the program and find effective ways to use it in their classrooms.

• East Grand Rapids Public Schools, Michigan: As I read about this district, their implementation fit in to my goals for Phase Two of the Moodle implementation at Odessa Elementary. In this district, they adopted Moodle to meet specific needs of the teachers and coined it as their "Swiss Army Knife" for instructional technology. In other words, as the problems came up, Moodle was offered as a tool to use. For example, an art teacher wanted to create a virtual place for students to showcase their work. She created a gallery for each student through Moodle to upload their artwork and share with others. In another East Grand Rapids Public School, the students responsible for the yearbook posted pictures to share with other students so they could decide which pictures were most well liked for use in the final yearbook. By not putting limits on the teachers and students, Moodle was slowly implemented as needed. The result was that teachers found various and creative ways to integrate it into their classrooms to enhance student learning.
  

Implementation case studies found via K-12 Open Technologies at http://www.k12opentech.org/implementation-study-3-moodle.

Implementation Timeline

• July- August 2010 Phase 1: During this time, teachers will access the Professional Learning Community section of the Odessa Elementary School Moodle site to view notes and documents from work group sessions for various planning. To begin, we will have courses for Culture Committees, Academic Committees, Teamwork Committees, the Positive Behavior System group, Professional Development (which includes links to online trainings provided by LEARN) and Team Teaching sharing courses. They will also participate in discussions within these courses using wikis, blogs, and forums.
  

• August 2010-June 2011 Phase 2: We will continue to use the Professional Learning Community courses throughout the year. We will add a Leadership course for team leaders, a Lead Literacy group, a Media & Technology Integration group and a Response to Intervention (Rti) group. In addition, teachers will begin to work with me, the technology coach, to find ways to use Moodle with their students through the facilitation of their own Moodle course. As part of differentiated instruction and Rti conversations, Moodle will become a tool for teachers to begin to solve problems that arise with student learning.

• Year 2 and beyond Phase 3: After teachers have spent time learning to manage a Moodle course and using it as needed as a tool for student learning, I would like to see teachers planning their courses and embedding Moodle into their instructional routine regularly. This will occur over time from the second year of Odessa Elementary and beyond.
  

Problem of Practice Preview

Problem of Practice

This summer we have been busy getting ready to open the doors at Odessa Elementary School for the first time. Currently, our staff has been hired from ten different elementary schools in our district. Recently, we had our new school retreat where we spent four days getting to know each other and developing our Core Values for the new school. During this process, we came together as a staff and worked to create our own identity. As we prepare to begin the 2010-2011 school year, however, there are a lot more decisions to be made and discussions to be had. I have asked myself “How do we continue to establish our own Wildcat team?”. For the duration of the summer, there is a definite need to continue what we started at the retreat so we can be ready when school begins on August 16^th. Between now and then, the classroom teachers are only allowed restricted access to the school and to the coaching team as we are working during regular hours to get the school physically ready. This problem is most important in my work as an educator at this time. In order to be successful in our first year as a new school, it is important for our staff to cooperate and to put our Core Values into practice. Again, the problem lies in how we are going to continue this process between now and the start of the school year.

Why is this a significant problem?

In his article, Jere Brophy sites the principles that drive effective instruction. The three principles that apply to our current needs at Odessa Elementary are a supportive climate, thoughtful discourse and cooperative learning. The teachers in this situation will be the year round instructional staff (media coach, literacy coach and technology coach) and the administration while the learners will be the classroom teachers. Together we are looking for a way to put these three effective teaching principles into practice. Why is it important to solve this problem? This problem matters because as educators, we have been given an important job of setting the culture of a brand new school. We have an entirely clean slate on which to start. Every year after this one will add to the foundation we have built. Most importantly, we have an opportunity to decide what is important to us as educators and see those beliefs carry over into our classrooms to drive student achievement. However, in order for this to happen, we need to find a way to continue to have important discussions and make necessary decisions. In the end, if we have been effective in building a supportive climate, facilitating thoughtful discourse and encouraging cooperative learning, our staff will become a cohesive team where each member has had his or her opinion heard and incorporated into our vision for Odessa Elementary.

My Learning Journey

Over the last two months in my CEP 811 and 810 courses, I have opened up a whole new level in my technology knowledge and ability. Here are some thoughts.
Effective teaching when integrating technology
I have always believed that cooperative learning, projects and in depth study of a topic helps students to have a more effective learning experience. While studying about WebQuests and creating one, I have decided that this is a very effective way to incorporate content, meaningful study, cooperative learning and a project all while using the Internet! As teachers we are always looking for more ways to teach more in less time and WebQuests engage the students in many aspects of learning. Through this course, I have come to the conclusion that these types of learning experiences are even more enhanced because of integrating technology. When using technology, I think today's digital natives (our students) are more tuned in. They know it is important to be able to use these tools and they engage more. Another effective teaching strategy for me has always been scaffolding and feedback. In our StAIR project, we used a technology tool to teach a subject. For the slides, I incorporated scaffolding as I slowly took away support and had it only on the feedback slides. I think this helps our students move toward being more independent as well.
Web-Based Technologies
My conclusion about teaching with technology through web-based tools is that it is an environment where collaboration is essential and can thrive when students are willing to let it. Through tools like WebQuests or Google Docs, students are responsible for working together to make sure that the work is complete. Every student has a voice and every student is responsible for his or her learning as well as the learning of the group. I think this is a very important skill to be learning for tomorrow's workplace.
My Goals
My goals for this course were to learn about new ways to integrate technology into the curriculum. As teachers, we have less and less time to teach more and more. As the new technology coach at an elementary school, I wanted to find innovative products that would help teachers to make a change for their students that would really make a difference. I think I met my goal and am walking away from this course with several new tools in my toolbox so I can help teachers integrate more technology into their teaching next year.
My New Goal
My new goal as I continue to pursue my master's is to continue to find ways to bridge the gaps between digital natives and digital immigrants within the teaching staff. I also aim to continue finding new and innovative ways to make a difference for student learning through the use of technology. I believe that completing my master's degree will allow me to be a successful technology coach.

Online Experiences

As I read about Michigan's new online experience requirements for graduation, I started thinking about ways I can start to prepare my students in elementary school for the skills they will need to complete this requirement in the upper grades.
Podcasts or Vodcasts
Podcasts or Vodcasts can be adapted to many different curriculum areas. In math, you could have students create a vodcast or video podcast where they explain how to do problems. In Language Arts, students can create a podcast as a form of reading response. For example, this year my class did a biography study. Each student created a timeline for his or her person. Then, they created a podcast where they read a sequenced summary of the person's life, added a song that fit the "theme" of that person's life and they had the option to include sound clips. One pair was particularly creative. They had Anne Frank as their person and they had very sad music. When they told about Nazis marching into Amsterdam, they had marching boots as their background noise. When the Frank family was found, you could hear doors opening and glass breaking. It was very creative and well thought out and showed that the students understood the message conveyed by her biographer. I think the adaptable nature of podcasts or vodcasts makes them a great tool to be used in my classroom.
WebQuests
When I interviewed for my first teaching job, a very experienced teacher asked me a question about technology. When I told her that I had developed WebQuests for students in my student teaching, she said to me "Those are old technology." Perhaps she misunderstood what exactly a WebQuest was for. I feel strongly that now, more than ever, students need to be engaged in searching the internet and finding relevant resources to help them accomplish a task. In my teaching, I plan to use them because I see the value in students gathering information, forming ideas and synthesizing those ideas to create a final product.
Moodle
Since our district currently uses Moodle as our virtual learning environment, I see myself continuing to advocate for its use in our classrooms. This last school year, I used Moodle as a tool for extending learning beyond the classroom. Since we only had lab every other week, I would teach a new concept and we would engage in our regular classroom activities. Then, on our lab day, we would use Moodle to explore a question or idea we were studying. For example, in science when learning about consumers, I asked students the question "Why is it important that we have carnivores, herbivores and omnivores?" Students watched a United Streaming video and then in Moodle they posted in a discussion board. Another time, we were working on descriptive writing and we were writing about a roller coaster ride. Students had to describe how they felt before, during and after their ride. I used Moodle to simulate a roller coaster ride by uploading 3 roller coaster videos from Cedar Point. Then, I gave students the link to explore other coasters. They had 15 minutes to "ride" roller coasters before they had to write about it in the Moodle online text/document.
ePortfolio
Finally, as I was reading I was thinking about ways that we could engage students in beginning an ePortfolio from an early age. The middle and high school requirement in Michigan is 20 hours before graduation. I was thinking it would be beneficial for students in elementary school to have a requirement as well. My idea was not to make a time requirement but maybe a requirement in the number of ePortfolio pieces that a student does each year in elementary. It would be beneficial for them later and it would be a great way to see how they have grown in their technology skills since Kindergarten. Just a thought and something I want to think about piloting at my school this year as the technology coach!

One technology that I struggle seeing the benefit for in elementary is the RSS reader. As an educator, there are several great resources for professional development. However, with the students I work with, I don't see a huge benefit. There may be some students or classes that track each other's blogs or podcast pages but I see those students or classes as the exception and not the rule.

Google Presenter

This week, I explored Google Presenter. I started with a basic presentation and selected a theme for the slides. I noticed that there were not many choices for themes. However, you can import your own images and use them as a background and choose which slides to apply them to. I felt that the interface was relatively user friendly and not too overwhelming. The functions that makes this tool most attractive is that it is in the cloud. This opens a whole new element to access and storage of the document. Also, you can import slides from PowerPoint or Keynote. This function would be very helpful for putting together a cohesive final product where multiple users and programs have been utilized.

Google Presenter in the Classroom

In order for a user to be immediately successful, he or she would have to have some background knowledge of either a word processor or other presenter tools. However, if the learner was just beginning, I think it would be a manageable tool to use because it is not as overwhelming of an interface to start with as PowerPoint might be.

Sharing with Google Presenter offers many choices. You can create a presentation and share by sending it to others as an attachment. You can also publish the document and "View Together" by sending the URL to users to view and, sometimes, even edit. The viewing takes place online and can be done from anywhere with Internet access. The disadvantage, however, is the publishing feature. If you are creating a presentation that you plan to share anyway, this feature is not bothersome. However, maybe you are presenting a new idea or research findings that you do not want anyone else taking credit for. In this case, publishing it would be a bad idea. It then becomes available for anyone to view. In addition, if the "owner" or creator deletes a presentation that you had edited or wanted, he or she has the option to delete it from everyone's account. There is an option for transferring ownership of the presentation if someone wishes to get rid of it. However, this could be a situational disadvantage. You can also download or print the presentations.

One big benefit of this tool in education to teach subject matter could be a jigsaw approach to learning. A teacher could assign particular parts of a subject to individuals and then have them collaborate with their groups to create a final product. To help students, teachers could first demonstrate through a class collaboration/sharing before sending off small groups to do the same. This is definitely a tool that would require scaffolding as it has many elements that are not necessarily designed to be used/learned all at once.

One major managerial consideration for the teacher to take into account is the monitoring and creating of Google accounts. As I teach in the elementary setting, I can see where there would be a lot of concern with students having their own accounts. A solution to this might be creating "James Bond" type group accounts where users are given "alias" usernames and passwords by the teacher. This way, the teacher could view the accounts, if necessary, and monitor activity. One of the benefits of Google Presenter (and Google Docs) is the autosave feature. At the top of each new editing session, there is a save button (in case you need that extra reassurance) and next to it a time stamp that indicates when the last autosave took place. This is a tremendous help to the teacher because it helps the avoidance of "I lost it all!" situations.

Finally, the last thing to consider about Google Presenter is the continuous update of the software. Google is known for its continuous "renovation" of current applications. This would require that the teacher/school stays on top of browser updates and settings changes. Currently, Google Docs is being reworked to include more collaborative features and to allow for the uploading of larger files. At this time, while it is accessible for current Google users, the new version does not have all the features of the current version. Google cautions users to preview the features before changing their settings. Again, this would be an organizational and managerial task for the teacher to consider and stay on top of.

Overall, Google Presenter presents itself as a useful tool that compares to PowerPoint. The benefit of this tool, however, is that work can be done on the Internet allowing for easier access, storage and electronic sharing of files. Also, Google Gears has been developed to allow users access to their documents when there is not Internet access. There are also many more collaborative capabilities than PowerPoint. On the downside, it poses some security and management challenges for the teacher when students have their own accounts (especially for younger children). Also, when an Internet connection is unavailable, all collaborative features become ineffective. Finally, this application also requires the teacher or school (or family for home access) to stay on top of updates in browsers and settings so that all tools can be utilized (which we hope is done anyway, but let's face it- it is not always the case!). So we have to wonder: do the benefits outweigh the challenges? As with most innovations, I say "Let's give it a try!".

Web 2.0 Technologies

I think that the instructional strategies that would fit well with using blogs in the classroom would be either constructivist or idea based learning. These two processes of learning offer more opportunities for reflection, group interaction and cooperative learning. I do not think that blogs would be very effective in a didactic classroom. I think it would interrupt the flow of a lesson because it doesn't fit with the sage on the stage approach. I have a hard time with the question "How would you use a blog in a didactic classroom?". For this, I have no answer.

I think there are several great ways to use blogs in the classroom. I have often thought about using a blog on my classroom website where kids are responsible for posting about our learning for the day. This would be informative for the parent and give students a chance to reflect on the day's activities. A new idea this week for me was using a blog to complete weekly vocabulary homework. In third grade, I really hammer home the idea of using context clues to help understand words. So, each week, students have to take home their 6 or 7 vocabulary words and create a meaningful paragraph using those words. Unfortunately, they never see how creative their classmates are. A blog would be a great place for students to submit their assignment. Then, they could read their classmates blogs and make comments. I think they would learn a lot more from seeing how many different ways there are to incorporate the same words into a paragraph or short story!

A creative way to use a Web 2.0 technology to support learning might be using a Wiki to teach number patterns. In our third grade Next Generation Math Standards, students not only have to be able to find and complete patterns but also write a rule for a pattern and create it. I would use a wiki and give each student a page. Then, he or she could post the beginning of a pattern. Students could then edit each other's wikis figure out the rule and complete the pattern. However, I would create a rule that if you complete a pattern, you must begin a new one on that page. I think students would learn a lot from seeing each other's patterns, creating new patterns and challenging each other.

The World of Wikis

When I first logged into Wikipedia, I found that my district has a site titled Pasco County Schools. I went to this site and updated the number of schools in the county for the 2010-2011 School Year based on the current listing on our district website. I also added in the two new elementary schools for next year.


Then, I created my own Wiki for the school I will be working at next year. It is a brand new school for the 2010-2011 school year and it opens this summer! Now, all of the Odessa Elementary teachers and administrators can log in and add information as the summer progresses and we anxiously await the opening of our school. The welcome page includes the induction of our mascot, school colors and a list of our growing family.

For the additional page, I created an "images" page with a Flickr widget that shows all of our school pictures from beginning to current construction. This way we can all keep track of how our school is progressing!



Through the use of Moodle in my classroom, my students have used a Wiki to create an encyclopedia of all the places we have visited on our United States Regions Tour. However, I
have not created a Wiki for use by educators. I enjoyed "playing" in wikispaces and I think this will be a fun way for teachers to learn about Wikis as they log in to add their name to the list of Odessa Wildcats and watch a slideshow of the construction taking place on our new school!

Computer Based Instructional Objects

There are many things to consider when it comes to using or creating a computer based instructional object for students to use independently. In searching for exemplary WebQuests, several considerations have come to mind.
*Is it appropriate for the intended learner?
Many WebQuests explained their target audience. However, there were very few where I felt it was the appropriate age group for the content. Most specifically, the reading level of several WebQuests seemed way above the ability of the intended learner. This was most often found in those that were designed for K-2 students. In these cases, the literacy of the students seemed to be second to content.
*Does it accomplish the educational goal?
As I looked at WebQuests this week, I kept asking myself if the final product (if there was one for the project...some were simply research based with no final product that showed how the students were synthesizing the information) matched the objective stated in the introduction. While many did, there were an equal number of tasks that fell short of being project based.
*Are the directions clear?
Students need modeling and clear directions in order to understand an independent task. Some WebQuests gave simple, precise rules that allowed for the learner to process and complete the tasks. These directions were broken into manageable tasks in multiple step format. However, some of the WebQuests gave directions in paragraphs that had me rereading for understanding. For an independent learner, this would be both frustrating and uninviting.
*Is it interesting to look at?
Often, visual aesthetics are the last thing a creator thinks of. However, it is the first thing a learner sees. Some WebQuests I went to sounded intriguing but I could hardly stand to look past the first paragraph. For some, the contrast of color was hard on the eyes. In others, there were too many images or too much text. For others, there were no images or little text. The best visually balanced WebQuests stuck to two or three colors that complemented each other and created a flow through the activity. Also, it included a balance of images and text.

With all this in mind, I tried to find exemplary WebQuests. Here are three that I found.

Living in a Colonial Midwest Community
This WebQuest was intended for fourth graders. Although it lacks in visual appeal, the simulation and problem solving approach would be very effective. It requires that each student takes a role and is responsible for important information related to the particular aspect of Colonial Life. It is organized effectively so that each student can access his or her resources only.

Growing Green Thumbs
This WebQuest was intended for 3rd grade science. Visually, it is well balanced and effective. The directions are clear and each step is easy to manage. Literacy wise, it would be perfect for the intended age group. This also requires that each student take a role and be an expert for specific information. The best part about this WebQuest is that it incorporates literature, graphic organizer creation, website use and a final product of a PowerPoint.

Vanishing Wetlands: A Magic Act?
This WebQuest was intended for 5th grade. The biggest flaw was that the small text was often difficult to read. However, the content and the tasks put students in a simulation role and they had to use the information as their "magic" for explaining the loss of wetlands. It used many multimedia tools such as videos, images, slideshows and websites to allow students to gather information and make conclusions about the loss of wetlands.

Web pages vs. blogs

There are several apparent differences between a traditional web page and a blog. First, a traditional web page is typically created to disseminate information. Most schools, businesses and organizations use websites to share their goals, background information, and contact information. They might also share calendar of events. A blog, however, is more informal. It may give information, but it is not as limited. A company, school or organization might keep a blog that reflects on the current practices, gives first hand accounts of activities, or interacts with readers through comments and questions. Any person can use it as a podium for their own perspective on what interests them. On a traditional website, there is less linking and discussing. While some websites create a discussion forum or allow comments and questions to be sent to a webmaster, a blog allows people to comment, quote and link to each other. Also, some might argue that blogs add to the world of news. Although they may not always be factual, they offer a new element to the opinion world.

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog for Michigan State University! I will be using this blog to communicate with group members in classes and to post reflections on current educational practices that include the integration of technology into the classroom. Enjoy!