Summary
The Interactive Classrooms for All Contents professional development focuses on exploring multiple technology resources to determine how they can be applicable for use in the classroom. Participants will explore various resources, choose at least one to apply in the classroom, and demonstrate its integration with the SAMR model.
Essential Questions
How can technology complement the learning process?
What technology tools might be usable in the classroom?
Learning Goals
Participants will explore various technology resources and their potential use in the classroom.
Participants will be able to choose at least one instructional technology tool and create an activity to highlight its application in the classroom.
Participants will apply their understanding of the SAMR model of technology integration to the chosen technology tool.
Materials List
Access to devices or internet
Sticky notes
Activity Slides (attached)
Meme Posters (attached)
Task Card Note Catcher (attached; one per participant)
Task Cards 1-6 (attached; one set per group)
Task Cards 7-10 (attached; optional)
The SAMR Model for Technology Integration (attached; one per participant)
Engage
Begin with slide 2, displaying the presentation title. Welcome all participants, and introduce yourself and your background. Transition to slide 3, displaying the GEAR UP grant goals. Review these goals. Share with participants that allowing students to use various technology resources and applications can increase their academic performance and can help them better prepare for postsecondary education.
Move to slide 4, and share the learning objectives. Inform participants that, at the end of the presentation, they will have the opportunity to evaluate how well these objectives were met.
Move to slides 5-6. Invite participants to self-assess how comfortable they are with technology by choosing which of four meme posters displayed around the room most accurately reflects how they feel about using technology. Read aloud the descriptions of technology assessment on the slide. Ask each participant to stand next to the poster that most accurately reflects their comfort level. Groups should be evenly split, so encourage those who identify somewhere in between these four options to split up evenly.
Move to slide 7, and introduce the Four Corners strategy. With their new groups, participants should discuss why they feel a particular meme best describes their comfort level with technology.
Explore
Keeping participants in their Four Corners groups, move to slides 8-9. Hand each participant a copy of the attached Task Card Note Catcher. Invite participants to use this note catcher to record information during the upcoming technology activity. Pass out a copy of the attached Task Cards 1-6 to each group. These cards contain instructions to explore six different apps (Edpuzzle, Fluany, Pear Deck, Sutori, Webjets.io, and Hemingway Editor). Slide 10 through slide 15 contain identical instructions. You can use these slides to further guide participants as necessary.
Have groups work through the instructions on each of the six technology resource task cards, taking notes about each application on their note catchers.
Explain
Sort participants into groups. Ensure that the number of total groups equals or exceeds the number of technology resources studied in the last phase (by default, six groups or more) so that each technology resource can be covered at least once. Give each group one marker and one of the prepared posters. Invite participants to participate in a Time Scramble activity.
Move to slides 20-21. Set a timer for six minutes. Give groups these six minutes to write down as many ways as possible that the technology resource stated on the poster could be used in the classroom with students. After six minutes are up, have groups rotate their posters clockwise to another group.
Move to slide 22, and set a timer for five minutes. Give groups these five minutes to review what is already written about the technology resources and add more ideas to the page. Once the time is up, have groups rotate their posters clockwise to another group.
Move to slide 23, and set a timer for four minutes. Give groups these four minutes to review what is already written about the technology resource and add more ideas to the page. Once the time is up, have groups rotate their posters clockwise to another group.
Move to slide 24, and set a timer for three minutes. Give groups these three minutes to review what is already written about the technology resource and add more ideas to the page. Once the time is up, have groups rotate their posters clockwise to another group.
Move to slide 25, and set a timer for two minutes. Give groups these two minutes to review what is already written about the technology resource and add more ideas to the page. Once the time is up, have groups rotate their posters clockwise to another group.
Move to slide 26, and set a timer for one minute. Give groups this time to review what is already written about the technology resource and add more ideas to the page. Once the time is up, have groups rotate their posters clockwise. At this point, all groups should now have their original posters.
Move to slide 27. Invite each group to take 3-5 minutes to review what has been added to their lists and discuss the ideas that particularly stand out. Ask each group to select one idea from the list to highlight in a group presentation.
Move to slide 28. Ask each group to create a short presentation about their technology resource. Each presentation should include a brief description of the tech tool and a way for this resource to be used by students in the classroom. Groups can use a new piece of poster paper to create these presentations.
Once each group has finished, display each presentation in a different spot within the room.
Extend
Move to slides 29-30 and distribute a copy of the attached The SAMR Model for Technology Integration handout to each participant. Inform participants that there are four levels in the SAMR model. Have groups review and discuss the four levels on the handout (substitution, augmentation, modification, and redefinition) and come up with possible examples of each level. Have groups share out 1-2 of the examples they came up with.
Next, distribute six sticky note to each group. Display slide 31. Introduce participants to the Gallery Walk strategy. Invite participants to participate in a Gallery Walk to apply their knowledge of SAMR to the poster presentations. Starting with the poster clockwise to their own, have groups examine each poster and the classroom examples given for tech usage. Ask each group to choose one tech tool classroom example from each presentation that they believe fits somewhere in the SAMR model. Then, have each group record on a sticky note the level on which that classroom example would best fit in the SAMR model. Have groups leave these notes on or near each presentation before they rotate.
After all groups have rotated back to their own posters, have them examine any sticky notes left by other groups. Have a group spokesperson share out any comments, questions, or responses about the sticky notes on their poster.
Evaluate
Move to slides 32-33, and pass out a sticky note to each participant. Ask participants to use this sticky note with the Six-Word Memoir strategy to evaluate their understanding of one of the tech resources they learned about. Participants should write a Six-Word Memoir to "sell" the resource to their students. Allow time for participants to share out their memoirs.
Allow time for participants to pose any questions or concerns they may have to the group.
Follow-up Activities
No follow-up activities are planned for this activity.
Research Rationale
Students can now use Google Docs and other Google Apps to collaborate on group projects, as multiple participants can write on one document or presentation at the same time. Normally, group work falls on one student or a few out of the group, but with Google Apps for Education, students can sit separately and contribute simultaneously (Nevin, 2009). The teacher can also review the work of each student, further encouraging students to do their part during projects. Teachers can access student work at any given time to check for progress, provide feedback, and review or grade assignments. A case study at Carylnton Junior-Senior High School in Carnegie, PA, conducted through Google Education, found that students were engaged in interactive learning and collaboration while using Google Apps. Teachers were more likely to use Google Apps and Google Classroom when they had direct support and coaching to engage in technology (Google for Education, 2017). In researching technology-rich learning environments, Tiene and Luft (2001) conducted a study that used surveys, observations, and interviews to document the experiences of 10 public middle school teachers whose classes spent two months in a technology-rich environment. The teachers and students both used tech equipment extensively in working on class projects and thereby significantly enhanced their technological expertise. The availability of so much technology altered class dynamics in several ways. Students were able to work more independently than in the conventional classroom, and their learning experiences were more individualized. Students also worked more extensively in teams, so that cooperative learning was enhanced. Teachers were better able to present materials to the whole class using technology provided at their teaching stations. Overall, these teachers felt that this experience was very rewarding, and that their teaching was more effective in this technology-rich environment. Researchers also felt that these students' achievements were noticeably improved over those of their previous classes, who had worked on the same curricular units without the benefit of technology.
Resources
K20 Center. (n.d.). Four corners. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/d9908066f654727934df7bf4f5064550
K20 Center. (n.d.). Gallery walk/carousel. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/d9908066f654727934df7bf4f505a54d
K20 Center. (n.d.). Six-word memoir. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/7b4de59085f566aa097814b8c002b98a
K20 Center. (n.d.). Time scramble. Strategies. https://learn.k20center.ou.edu/strategy/f1ad9a48ef031d73438691061d00024d