CEP812 Project Description DRAFT

Overview

Implementing a technology based program such as Study Island may help improve students’ study skills and habits, as well as their test scores.

The Problem of Practice

The big push in school systems today is passing the state achievement tests. As a result, having students pass the achievement test is a top priority at Fostoria Community Schools. According to the Ohio Department of Education’s 2008-2009 School Year Report Card for Riley Elementary School, the school has been designated as showing “Continuous Improvement” (reportcard.ohio.gov). In order to reflect academic excellence and earn a higher designation, at least 75% of Riley Elementary students tested must score proficient or higher on the test. Currently, only 60% of all tested students at Riley Elementary scored proficient on the achievement test for this past school year.

In efforts to improve student success, practice achievement tests are administered every week, rotating in subject. Lesson plans and curriculum maps are designed to align with state standards, and therefore content on the achievement test. Much time and effort goes into guiding each student to success. However, we have to remember that each student is different in their educational needs. Students learn at different paces and with different depths of understanding. Implementing a program such as Study Island would help provide students with the individualized support they need in order to maximize success.

Study Island is an innovative website focused on providing instruction, practice and assessment based on state standards (www.studyisland.com). This is a website that is made available to administrators, teachers, parents and students. Study Island focuses all of their materials off of state standards in order to provide authentic resources for each state. Students begin the Study Island program by completing a pre-test to determine what level they will begin at. From there, they can complete lessons and practice sessions based off of the state standards. Sessions are broken down by standard, and then furthermore by indicator. Students can complete a set of practice problems within each indicator, take a review over multiple indicators, and even play games based off of content within individual standards. Teachers can then track students’ progress, as can parents.

Providing students with timely and detailed feedback is essential to mastering skills. Giving feedback helps students identify their mistakes and further develop mastery. As noted by Jere Brophy in his research article titled Teaching he states “To be useful, practice must involve opportunities not only to apply skills but also to receive timely feedback” (p. 22). While students are completing segments on Study Island they are given direct feedback on their progress. When students answer a question incorrectly, Study Island gives students a hint as to how to obtain the correct answer; therefore, guiding them to success.

Also, students receive updates on their progress after completing a segment. Students must score a specified percentage in order to progress on to the next section. All of these results are available for teachers to access as well. Teachers can pull up a class report in order to see how students are doing, and where they are in the program. This data is also available to parents so they can track their student’s progress as well.

This feedback helps determine the success each student is having with the program. Essentially showing if it is effective for the students or not. To further determine the usefulness, staff could go back and compare results on Study Island to results on the achievement test. For example, if a student struggled with passing the mathematics portion on geometry and spatial sense, we could go back and review their progress on that standard in Study Island. If this was a section they struggled with during the school year, it would make sense that they struggled with it on the actual achievement test. On the other hand, if students are showing monumental progress, and this success is shown on their achievement test as well there may be a connection.

CEP 811 Final Reflection

Integrating technology can be a great asset to any classroom. Of course, this works best with certain teaching strategies. When utilizing the internet, interactive whiteboards, or other forms of technology I have learned that acting as a "guide on the side" works best for me. Students need to be able to take control of their learning. This can be applied to technology as well. Giving my students the opportunity to click the mouse, and write on the SmartBoard makes for a more engaging classroom and quality student learning.

In using different web-based technologies, I have realized how vital these are to the classroom. Webquests and even certain internet sites can enhance the classroom in ways text will never be able to. StAIRs are absolutely amazing resources. They give students an opportunity to work independently and at their own pace, while using technology. I could stand in front of the board and lecture on all of the content I put in my StAIR, but who wants to learn that way? These are a great way to differentiate material for students, and provided them with thought-provoking, engaging activities.

I have met my personal goals for technology as I completed the projects for this class. I have been able to broaden my horizons in different aspects of technology, while growing as a teacher and professional. In the future I look to further expand my knowledge base in interactive whiteboards. As of now, I know the basics, and get by with those. However, I would like to give my students more, and really use the tool to its fullest. Also, it is a goal of mine to make a few changes to my StAIR project in order to further enhance the quality. This includes adjusting volume levels, adding narration and possibly a few more real-life images. Then, I would like to work it into my lessons before the end of the school year. We have already covered the content in the StAIR, so I think it could be a fun review for my students to do. Plus, I will be able to re-test them and see how much they actually remember.

Online Teaching and Learning

I am excited to hear that technology will be such a huge part in education. I think this is a great step for our schools!! I was intrigued by the list of activities that qualify as an online experience for students. Many of the items listed are ones that I use regularly. In my science class I incorporate podcasts into my instruction. I have found a great feed that provides interactive songs about different animal species. To add to that, I would like to set up an ePortfolio for my students. Through this portfolio they could compile all of their science experiments write-ups. This would give them an opportunity to showcase all of the time and effort they put forth into their experiment. They could upload their write-up, any graphs, photos, or additional projects for their experiments.

When I use the podcasts in the classroom I fall back on a didactic approach. I present the students with the materials, and then they take what they have learned and apply it. However, with the ePortfolios I hope to become more of a "guide on the side," allowing my students to take charge. I would be available for technical support and to provide guidelines as to what to upload, but I would like my students to take responsibility for the task. That way they can really call it their own, and take pride in their portfolio.

I know using an ePortfolio will be challenging at first, but I am confident in my students ability. As long as we review the basics needed to carry out the task, they should have no problems. In the future I look to further my technology applications by possible incorporating Moodle or similar applications into my classroom. This will definitely be a challenge for myself as well as my students when the day comes. They biggest hurdle with this will be making sure all of my students are able to log on at home, or from a location other than school. As of now, not all on my students have easy access to the Internet outside of school, so I need to make sure I keep this in mind when incorporating technology as I want to provide all of my students with the opportunity to succeed.