The purpose of my project is to find ways to bring the internet into the elementary school as in inquiry or mindtool. I was going to compere two different web sites, but as I went further with the project I decided to focus on only one web site becasue I wanted to tie it to our School Improvement Plan.
RATIONALE
My motivation for this particular project is to find a way to use sites such as http://www.quia.com/ in an elementary classroom. Web sites are used in middle and high schools to a greater extent than the elementary schools. The elementary level is lagging behind in using the technology available to them, especially the internet.
My school is in the process of setting up its first computer lab. The school currently has 2-4 computers per classroom that are used mainly for educational games. Very few classrooms are using the internet to enhance the district curriculum even though they have internet access in the classroom. Computer labs, in my mind, are crucial in elementary schools. Web sites, such as www.quia.com, in my opinion, are very suitable for an elementary computer lab. These web sites are appropriate not only for educators but for students.
READINGS
During this class we read different articles about Problem-Based Learning and Inquiry. The article that I found most helpful to me during this project was "Qualitative Assessment Activites for Pew Grant on Problem-Based Learning (PBL)" and can be found here. The article had two questions it wanted to answer: "How do students experience the PBL context?" and "What kinds of learning occur in the PBL setting."
There were several key findings from this study. They were: participation, compromise, respect, acceptance of different approaches and working styles, interpersonal, small group and communication skills, awareness of learning preference.
The students that participated in the focus groups liked the PBL style because they participated to a greater extent because they got to know the other students in the class and they were able to interact with them on a regular basis. A number of the students "credit the group aspect with helping them become more accountable and responsible. Because others depend on their contributions, the students are motivated to attend class regularly, to stay on top of their assignments and to come to class prepared with their work completed.
The students also found that the PBL experience is directly linked to how motivated the students are and how committed they are to the work. The group dynamic needs to be maintained at all times. Each member can help to monitor this. One finding under the collaboration heading was "opportunity for questions and feedback helps comprehension of the content."
Barbara Duch is a great resource for PBL and references for her can be found at the University of Delaware.
A book I have read in previous classes in Integrating Technology for Meaningful Learning by Mark and Cindy Grabe. This is a great book for anyone who is just beginning to explore technology and a WONDERFUL resource for connecting curriculum to technology. The book is designed with an emphasis on meaningful teacher and student learning with technology. One piece I found exceptionally useful to me is Chapter 6: The Internet as a Tool for Inquiry. This was the chapter that listed the Big Six, which are interrelated set of skills. They are:
*Task definition
*Information-seeking strategies
*Location and access
*Use of information
*Synthesis
*Evaluation
I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is considering an educational path into curriculum and technology.
Computers as Mindtools for Engaging Learners in Critical Thinking by Jonanssen is an article that emphasizes mindtools, which is where I got my title for my article.
As I think about the definition of mindtools that was given in the article, I noticed Jonassen focused on spreadsheets as a great mindtool to use. I have used spreadsheets in my professional studies and in my job as an educator, but have not used them with my students. When I think about different types of spreadsheets I can think of the paper/pencil kind used by elementary school students: addition problems, number grids, graphing, etc. I have not thought to use the computer spreadsheets with the younger children, but this article certainly had differnt suggestions for use.
For this project I focused on the internet web sites as a mindtool, but I am definitely going to continue to explore the use of computer spreadsheets with elementary students. I also want to continue to explore the use of blogs at the elementary level. The article did talk about the use of conversational tools when talking about mindtools and gave a few examples. This was a great article!
DESIGN AND TECHNOLOGY
I am using the internet as my technology and mindtool to create this project. The web site http://www.quia.com/ was fairly easy to navigate. The instructions were easy to follow and the help links were excellent. I am attempting to post my presentation on my blog, but my first few attempts were not successful. In fact when I first tried to post it I lost everything that I had typed (bummer!!). I may attempt to post the presentation in a separate post.
NETS STANDARDS
National Educational Technology Standards for Students. This link will take you to these standards. I fell the following NETS standards are the main ones I see as being relevant to my project.
*Basic operations and concepts
-Students are proficient in the use of technology.
*Technology productivity tools
-Students use technology tools to enhance learning, increase productivity, and promote creativity.
-Students use productivity tools to collaborate in constructing technology-enhanced models, prepare publications, and produce other creative works.
CHALLENGES
The biggest challenge I had with this project is trying to post my presentation to the blog. I have not yet mastered this yet, but I will not go down in defeat. As far as challenges to the project I am working on, the biggest one is not having a computer lab at schol to provide more of a PBL atmostphere to this project. It is nice to have the computers in the classsroom, but there are just not enough to do this project justice. If the goal is to make elementary students comfortable and confident with the technology associated with the internet, it is imperative that the students are taught in the most beneficial way possible. I would like to put this into practice when our computer lab is up and running.
PROJECT PERFORMANCE/OBSERVATIONS
As I state above, it will be interesting to see this project come to fruition when our computer lab is in place. When I was doing the simulation in http://www.quia.com/ I became very excited about the possibilities to be explored at the elementary level. Our School Improvement Plan is required to have a technology strand included. Since our focus is Reading Comprehension I would like to see one part of our action plan include this resource as a tool for teachers to use with students. Right now only teachers are making use of the web site and are finding it very useful.
Any feedback is welcome.
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