Technology to Enhance Learning for At-Risk Students

1. Technology to Enhance Learning for At-Risk Students Gayle Clement gpclement1@cox.net

2. Agenda • Welcome and Introductions • Technology and At Risk Students • What is Project Based Learning? • Examples • Cooperative Learning • Tools of the Trade • Make Your Own

3. “Tell me and I forget. Show me and I remember. Involve me and I understand.” —Chinese proverb

4. Objectives • Identify a wide variety of technology and online resources that can be used with students. • Facilitate the ways students obtain, organize, manipulate, and display information. • Simulate real-world environments and create actual situations for experimentation. • Improve student communication skills and develop positive cooperative learning relationships.

5. Objectives • Enhance student engagement, and productivity. • Move students toward self-reliance and peer coaching. • Explore online resources that support at-risk students. • Allow teachers to function as facilitators. • Learn time/classroom management strategies that maximize learning for every student. • Understand how to design projects that integrate a variety of disciplines. • Foster parental involvement and support.

6. At Risk Student and Technology • Research Says: • Increases engagement and motivation • Builds social skills • Encourages collaboration • Higher order thinking skills • Real world applications • Supports reading and reading comprehension • Support structures - Hypertext

7. Project-based learning with multimedia (PBL+MM) is a method of teaching and learning in which students acquire new knowledge and skills in the course of designing, planning, and producing a multimedia product. Project Based Learning With Multimedia

8. What is Project Based Learning • Standards based – curriculum focused • Asks a question or poses a problem • Allows students to investigate a real world problem • Uses cooperative groups • Students create a productProject Based Learning:An Overview • Newsome Park Video • Geometry in the Real World

9. Why Project Based Learning? • Anchored in core curriculum; multidisciplinary • Meets required TA TEKS objectives • Involves students in sustained effort over time • Involves student decision-making • Collaborative • Has a clear real-world connection • Systematic assessment: both along the way and end product • Takes advantage of multimedia as a communication tool

10. Choices, Choices, Choices • “Plug & play” online projects • Advantages • Less prep time • Getting an understanding of pbl • Disadvantages • May not dovetail to your curriculum needs

11. Plug & Play Projects • Communication • Information Collection • Online Field Trips • Problem-solving • Interactive Experiences • Multimedia Projects • WebQuests

12. Types of “P&P” Projects • Online field trips • Simple: sharing info about their community • Complex: monitoring an expedition to reach the North Pole • Examples: MUSEUMS, GALLERIES, EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS, ETC. • Nova Online Virtual Fieldtrips • http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ • Roman Village • http://www.villa-rustica.de/tour/toure.html • Colonial Williamsburg • http://www.history.org/

13. Types of “P&P” Projects • Information collection • data collected from multiple sites • data analyzed by students • data collection via: • conducting surveys and election polls • collecting weather statistics, comparative prices, sports statistics • Journey North • http://www.learner.org/jnorth/ • Project FeederWatch • http://birds.cornell.edu/PFW/

14. Types of “P&P” Projects • Problem-solving activities • similar problems presented to two or more classes • take turns presenting problems • teams of students use telecommunications technology to plan strategies, share results, and solve problems collaboratively • Chips A Tally • http://www.angelfire.com/nj3/tally/ • UBUYACAR • http://www.mcli.dist.maricopa.edu/pbl/ubuytutor/index.html

15. Types of “P&P” Projects • WebQuests • Inquiry-based learning activity • Explore, collect, and interact with online info • Bernie Dodge’s WebQuests: • http://webquest.org

16. One Stop Shopping: Project Sites • TrackStar • http://trackstar.4teachers.org/ • Blue Web’n • http://www.kn.pacbell.com/wired/bluewebn/index.html • Math Projects Journal • http://www.mathprojects.com/home.asp • eThemes • http://www.emints.org/ethemes/resources/index.shtml

17. Examples • PBL Examples by Grade Level • http://www.project-approach.com/examples/projects.htm • Edutopia Online • http://www.edutopia.org/php/keyword.php?id=037 • PBL Design • http://www.designshare.com/Research/Wolff/Project_Learning_10.htm • Technology Supports for Project Based Learning • http://www.ed.gov/pubs/SER/Technology/ch8.html

18. Cooperative Learning • a teaching strategy in which small teams, each with students of different levels of ability, use a variety of learning activities to improve their understanding of a subject.

19. Why use Cooperative Learning? Research has shown that cooperative learning techniques: • promote student learning and academic achievement • increase student retention • enhance student satisfaction with their learning experience • help students develop skills in oral communication • develop students' social skills • promote student self-esteem

20. Jigsaw • Divide students into 5- or 6-person diverse jigsaw groups. • Appoint one student from each group as the leader. • Divide the day's lesson into 5-6 segments. • Assign each student to learn one segment, making sure students have direct access only to their own segment. • Give students time to read over their segment at least twice and become familiar with it.

21. Jigsaw • Form temporary "expert groups" by having one student from each jigsaw group join other students assigned to the same segment. Bring the students back into their jigsaw groups. • Ask each student to present her or his segment to the group. Encourage others in the group to ask questions for clarification. • Float from group to group, observing the process. • At the end of the session, give a quiz on the material so that students quickly come to realize that these sessions are not just fun and games but really count.

22. Let’s Try a Jigsaw

23. 5 Elements of Cooperative Learning • Positive Interdependence • Face-to-Face Interaction • Individual & Group Accountability • Interpersonal & Small-Group Skills • Group Processing Other Cooperative Learning Structures

24. Looks like Sounds like

25. Creating your own…

26. Choices, Choices, Choices • Create your own online project • Advantages • Customized learning • Disadvantages • Labor intensive • Content • Tools

27. Online Project Development • Types of projects • Hotlists • ScrapBook • WebQuests

28. Online Activities/Projects • Hotlists • A hotlist is a list of Internet resources that are related to a certain theme, topic, subject, and/or project. • Advantages • Provides appropriate resources • Requires no searching • Allows more “time on task”

29. Online Activities/Projects • Scrapbooks • A scrapbook is a collection of Internet sites organized around specific categories such as, photographs, maps, stories, facts, quotations, sound clips, videos, virtual reality tours, etc. • Advantages • Contain multimedia resources that can be used in other formats • Newsletters • Web pages • Electronic presentations

30. Online Activities/Projects • WebQuests • http://webquest.org What is a WebQuest? • A WebQuest is defined, by Bernie Dodge at San Diego State University, as "an inquiry-oriented activity in which some or all of the information that learners interact with comes from resources on the Internet.”

31. Online Activities/Projects • WebQuests • A WebQuest is an inquiry-based project that includes Internet resources • Advantages • Delivers inquiry-based learning • Promote effective use of the Internet • Promotes higher level thinking skills • Provides real world experiences • Promotes cooperative learning

32. WebQuests • WebQuest Projects in Texas • Camp Connect • Region XIII: Wimberley, TX • Ft. Bend ISD: Sugar Land, TX • Create your own WebQuest with a free template. • Teacher Web • http://teacherweb.com/TWQuest.htm • WebQuest Generator: Teach-nology • http://www.teach-nology.com/web_tools/web_quest/ • WebQuest Generator: Instant WebQuest • http://www.instantprojects.org/webquest/

33. How do you tie these projects to TA TEKS?

34. TCET WEB Library • http://www.tcet.unt.edu/weblibrary2/

35. Best Practices, Grades K-2 • WebQuest: The Very Lost & Hungry Caterpillar • Grade: K-2 • Curriculum areas: Science and language arts • Sample TA TEKS Standards: • Foundations • Information acquisition • Solving problems • Communication

36. Best Practices, Grades 3-5 • WebQuest: Set Your Sites on Texas • Grade: 3-5 • Curriculum areas: Social studies and language arts • Sample TA TEKS Standards: • Foundations: The student demonstrates knowledge and appropriate use of hardware components, software programs, and their connections.  • Information acquisition: The student uses a variety of strategies to acquire information from electronic resources, with appropriate supervision.  • Solving problems: The student uses appropriate computer-based productivity tools to create and modify solutions to problems.  • Communication: The student delivers the product electronically in a variety of media, with appropriate supervision. 

37. Best Practices, Grades 6-8 • WebQuest: Monet? • Grade: 6-8 • Curriculum areas: Art and language arts • Sample TA TEKS Standards: • Foundations • Information acquisition • Solving problems • Communication

38. Online Project Development Considerations: • What is the process behind project development? • Where do I find the necessary tools and resources?

39. Eight Steps to a Successful Online Project • Step 1: Think about your curriculum standards and goals. • Step 2: Go online to see how other teachers are structuring their projects. • Step 3: Once you have become familiar with a variety of online projects, revisit your curriculum and develop the type, topic, and content for your project. • Make sure that the topic appeals to your students. • Step 4: Design your project with specific goals, tasks, and outcomes. Create a starter project that is doable.

40. Eight Steps to a Successful Online Project • Step 5: Develop an evaluation tool that best supports the project. • Ex. Rubric- WebQuest • Step 6: Set specific beginning and ending dates for your project. • Step 7: Periodically, review the process of the project. Answer any questions and address any concerns. • Step 8: At the project’s conclusion, share the results of the project with all participants. Publish results if applicable.

41. Project Development Determine a Need Choose a Topic Identify Resources Establish Your Goals Design Assessment Specify the Task Design the Lesson Develop Pages THE TEACHER Implement the Project Evaluate & Revise

42. Designing the Question • The Question is the Answer – Jamie McKenzie – From Now On

43. Tools of the Trade!

44. Tools Of The Trade • Planning Tools • Searching Tools • Resource Tools • Research Tools • Authoring Tools • Productivity Tools • Assessment Tools • Communication Tools • Sharing Tools

45. Sample Online Tools • Creating Online Projects • Teacher's GuideforBuilding Integrated Technology Projects • www.essdack.org/building/ • RubiStar • Online, electronic rubrics tool • http://rubistar.4teachers.org/ • Project-Based Checklists • Online, electronic checklist tool • www.4teachers.org/projectbased/

46. Sample Online Tools • Rubrics • Teach-nology • http://www.teach-nology.com/web_tools/rubrics/ • Exercises, Quizzes, Tests • E. L. Easton • http://eleaston.com/quizzes.html

47. Online Learning • Ozline: The Idea Machine • Generates Activity Ideas • http://www.ozline.com/learning/machine.html • the netride: WebQuests and Other Projects • Online exercise on online activities • http://www.thenetride.com.au/smartstuff/webquests/

48. Online Training • Actden.com • Microsoft Applications • Online tutorials for students and teachers • www.actden.com • Internet4Classrooms • Online Tutorials • www.internet4classrooms.com/on-line.htm

49. How Do You Integrate TA TEKS?

50. The Formula Your Curriculum TA TEKS + PBL Integration • Choose 1 curriculum objective that you teach. • Choose 1 TA TEK • Choose 1 PBL source that you learned about today…