EDTC 6433 Module 2: ISTE Standard 2 - Student Blogging as Assessment

ISTE Standard 2: Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments

 

Article: Learning is Messy

 

The second ISTE standard deals with the mechanics of a classroom; specifically, how technology is used to instruct and test (Standards). This standard requires teachers to use technology to find ways of instructing students by the methods they learn best by, and to help them explore topics that interest them. Teachers are also required to use technology to create many different ways to assess student learning (Standards). For a history class, technology might be used to provide an alternative to the traditional written test.

In an article for the New York Times, Matt Richtel (2012) describes three methods of teaching writing to students: assigning a traditional term paper, assigning a number of blog posts over the term, or both. According to Richtel, a blog post “gives the writer the immediacy of an audience, a feeling of relevancy, instant feedback from classmates or readers, and a practical connection to contemporary communications” that term papers do not offer (2012). Conversely, writing a paper trains writers in creating an argument and adequately supporting their conclusions. A class that uses both traditional writing and blog posts ideally offers both the exercise in critical thinking and the contributory nature of blogs (Richtel 2012).

One teacher who used a blog to recognize his students’ work is Brian Crosby, who published some of his students’ projects on his blog “Learning is Messy” and so gave them the opportunity to interact with their peers in other classrooms as well as experts (Dean Hubbell Pitler & Stone 2012). Interestingly, one video deals with the topic of bullying, a problem his students faced that year that the video helped to resolve (Crosby). In addition to improving their classroom, the video earned recognition and multiple awards (Crosby). Although not strictly academic, this is an example of students receiving recognition for their work. Recognition can dramatically affect student motivation in a positive way (Dean et al 2012), so blogging can be a useful tool for improving student learning.

The method of combining writing and a blog post probably makes the most sense for a history class, as it gives students a chance to thoroughly analyze a topic and then summarize it with their sources online. However, instead of handing in a paper to be summarized for the website, students might also have the option to turn in drawings, videos, or other types of media that are most relevant to their research topic and that can be displayed in entirety online. In this way, students have the opportunity to present their findings in the most practical method and post their findings in a place that will open the door for further discussion with likeminded students or experts that they would not otherwise be able to work with.

This project could also be turned into an assessment if the project instead covers topics taught in class; possibly, it could take the place of a test or final exam. Rather than sit for a test, students could produce a project in some technological format, such as a video or a computer drawing, and submit that as evidence of what they learned. Feedback from experts may have a particular impact if this project is treated as an assessment, as it will provide feedback from someone other than the teacher. My original question for this module had to do with improving students’ attitude about history class, and while this does not answer the question directly, the possibility of having a creative assessment might encourage students who do not like traditional tests to have a more positive attitude about history class.

Blog posting might raise some concerns for a classroom, particularly if parents do not  feel comfortable having their children posting on a website the entire world can see, or students themselves are uncomfortable posting their schoolwork online. Furthermore, a teacher hosting a classroom blog would have to oversee the posts very carefully to make sure no information is false and no content is inappropriate. Finally, depending on what media students use to present what they have learned, technology may play a very limited role. In order to fully meet ISTE Standard 2, student blogging will need a little more adjusting so that technology is present in all stages of teaching or a project. However, student blogging offers students the chance to present what they have learned in a medium they choose and then receive recognition for their hard work.

Sources:

Crosby, B. Student Videos. Learning is Messy. Retrieved from http://www.learningismessy.com/student-videos/

Dean, C.B., Hubbell, E. R., Pitler, H., and Stone, B. (2012). Classroom Instruction That Works: Research-Based Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement (2^nd edition). Denver, CO: McREL, and Alexandria, VA: ASCD. Print.

Richtel, Matt. (2012, January 20). Blogs vs. Term Papers. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/22/education/edlife/muscling-in-on-the-term-paper-tradition.html

Standards for Teachers. ISTE. Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/standards/standards/standards-for-teachers

EDTC6433 Module 1: ISTE Standard 1 - Technology in History Class

The first ISTE standard requires teachers to “facilitate and inspire student learning and creativity” by combining the knowledge of their subject, their job, and technology (ISTE 1). In other words, teachers must be able to use technology in such a way that students have an enhanced learning experience. Technology cannot be used simply for the sake of being technology, but rather to specifically improve the way in which students learn. SAMR provides four levels of integrating technology into the classroom, where the lowest level has technology merely replacing other tools and the highest level has technology transforming the activity the students perform in a manner that only technology is capable of (Romrell, Kidder, & Wood 2014). The Technology Integration Matrix goes further and measures technological use in five stages as it applies to five aspects of learning: active, collaborative, constructive, authentic, and goal-directed. It looks at what tools are used, how easily students use them, and who students use them with (Technology Integration). From looking at both of these models, it appears to me that technology that enhances a student’s learning will provide a wide array of learning methods that cannot be gained without technology. This strikes me as particularly difficult for a history class because, while technology might be helpful in acquiring knowledge, most knowledge about historical events and trends can be gleaned from books or lectures, and does not necessarily require technology. However, technology might be used to expand students’ learning experience by adding more to the learning experience than simply collecting and retaining facts.

Technology can certainly be used to expand the knowledge students of history have access to. One article found by my classmate explains how the use of the Internet allows students to be exposed to more than one viewpoint on the same topic, which can be used to allow for students to engage in debate over a specific topic. However, in addition to providing more sources of knowledge, the article also explains how the Internet allows for students to gain knowledge from visuals (Shively & VanFossen, 2009). For example, the Smithsonian’s History Explorer website has videos of historic inventions such as the cotton gin, as well as a 3-D digital tour of a gunboat from the American Revolution. These resources allow for students to see items instead of merely reading about them. In particular, the video of the cotton gin may be useful because it is a clear demonstration of “the impact of the cotton gin on cotton production in the U.S.” (Cotton Gin Video, 2012). Even further than expanding access to knowledge, the Internet can allow students to apply their knowledge. Alexandra Pickett mentions in her article “50 Alternatives to Lecture” the use of quizzes or “self-tests” (7), and one online quiz-like resource is the Go Back In Time game, which requires students to match artifacts, including one audio clip of a song, to a specific time period.

These are examples of technology providing a learning experience that books and lecture cannot offer as thoroughly. The video allows for students to actually see the difference the cotton gin made rather than simply hearing about it, a feat which would be impossible without video and the internet unless a teacher had access to their own historical cotton gin. The 3-D boat tour allows for students to tour a specific boat that they otherwise could not do if they were not located near that boat. Both of these resources offer knowledge in a way that a textbook cannot. The game offers a chance to apply knowledge already acquired, and implements an audio artifact, which a textbook cannot give. The quiz goes farther and allows students to apply their knowledge in a challenge, and while a teacher could just print out pictures of most artifacts, the audio artifacts would not usable without some kind of technology. Presumably, then, technology used appropriately is able to provide useful learning experiences in addition to greater access to information.

There are some drawbacks to these specific resources. The first is that they are largely solitary activities, but with a little modification, they can be turned into experiences the entire class can participate in. Another drawback, however, is that, while they provide additional information, they do not really modify any activity; even in the online quiz, the activity’s modifications are slim. Possibly an additional way to use technology to really transform activities might be to find a way to go through the 3-D tour of the gunboat with an expert connected on the Internet, so students can ask questions live; similarly, an expert online presence can also make the quiz and its artifacts more of an engaging experience. While the additional information available is impressive, more can be done to truly transform historical learning through technology.

 
The video of the cotton gin may be found here, from YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JzHD7_dWEik&list=UUcBeQ2q6YyOpOaUREG-Z3pg&index=7&feature=plcp

References:

Cotton Gin Video. (May 5, 2012). Smithsonian’s History Explorer. Retrieved from https://historyexplorer.si.edu/resource/cotton-gin-video

Interactives and Media. Smithsonian’s History Explorer. https://historyexplorer.si.edu/interactives

Pickett, A. M. (No year given). 50 Alternatives to Lecture. Retrieved from SPU https://canvas.spu.edu/courses/16860/files/415877?module_item_id=121255

Romrell, D. Kidder, L. & Wood, E. (2014). The SAMR Model as a Framework for Evaluating mLearning. Online Learning Consortium. Retrieved from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1036281

Shiveley, J. M., & VanFossen, P. J. (2009). Toward Assessing Internet Use in the Social Studies Classroom: Developing an Inventory Based on a Review of Relevant Literature. Journal Of Social Studies Research, 33(1), 1-32. From EBSCOHost.

The Technology Integration Matrix. (No year given). Florida Center for Instructional Technology. Retrieved from https://fcit.usf.edu/matrix/matrix/