Technology in the Classroom...

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Coach Smith

Reflections & New Beginnings...

This week began our first week back to school for Cameron ISD.  We have initiated our "technology integration" process by beginning a new round of training for all teachers in the areas of interactive websites and networking basics.  This is a huge breath of fresh air for many of us that have been looking forward to more training in technology and interactive white board assistance. 

As we come to the conclusion of our research class, I am pleased with what I have learned.  I am very glad the class was much more than the "process" of research like many classes I completed in my undergraduate work.  Instead this class was enlightening and I felt like we had an opportunity to plan our research and become more educated in our particular field of interest.  As the school year begins I am honestly excited about conducting my research and I look forward to hearing about my classmates work in their particular field.

Interactive White Boards...

I am very interested in determining if and how interactive white board technology impacts student engagement, knowledge acquisition, and knowledge retention.  These are factors I will attempt to study over the next eighteen months, and have gained administrator approval to do so.  First I will survey students and teachers in an effort to find initial thoughts about technology in the classroom.  After the survey, I hope to interview students and teachers about their experiences with technology in the classroom.  Classroom observation will follow as I try to watch engagment and teacher practices.  My research will conclude as I attempt to find correlations between student test scores and teacher usage of interactive white boards.  I look forward to hearing comments and recommendations.  Thanks for your help!

Action Research Plan

Action Research Plan
Goal: Evaluate the effectiveness of white board technology.
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Develop a survey to give to teachers regarding use of interactive white boards	I will develop the assessment	August 1 – August 10	Survey Monkey, examples of other surveys	Is the survey asking quality questions? Are they relevant to what I want to analyze?
Distribute survey to teachers at high school	I will distribute the link for teachers, they will fill out survey	August 10 – August 31	Survey Monkey, computers, email	Is the survey completed by all teachers? Is it effective?
Develop a survey to distribute to students regarding use of interactive white boards	I will develop the assessment	September 1 – September 30	Survey Monkey, examples of other surveys	Is the survey easy to understand? Do I have a good design to the questionnaire?
Distribute survey to students at high school	I will distribute the link for students, they will fill out survey	October 1 – October 31	Survey Monkey, computers, email	Is the survey completed by an effective sample of students? Is it effective?
Interview teachers about their feelings and knowledge of interactive white boards	I will conduct the interviews with as many teachers as possible.	November 1 – November 30	Examples of other interviews of this nature	Did I get a good sample of teachers? Are the interview questions leading to the appropriate research?
Interview students about their feelings and knowledge of interactive white boards	I will conduct the interviews with as many students as possible.	December 1 – January 30	Examples of other interviews of this nature	Did I get a good sample of students? Are the interview questions leading to the appropriate research?
Interview administrators about their feelings and knowledge of interactive white boards	I will conduct the interviews with the high school principal and other administrators	January 1 – January 30	Examples of other interviews of this nature	Did the interview yield the specific data I was looking for?
Observe classrooms that have interactive white boards	I will observe classrooms under the guidance of our principal	February 1 – March 31	Observation template	Were there opportunities for the teacher to use technology?
Compare a week of instruction with and without whiteboards	I will use my classroom for this data	March 1 – April 15	Interactive white board, comparable tests	Did the technology make a difference?
Write a weekly journal about the use of whiteboards and their effectiveness	I will write a journal entry each week about how the technology impacts my classroom	August 2011 – November 2012	Journal, white board technology	Does the journal reflect what is going on in the classroom? Is the journal kept up to date and accurate?
Evaluate standardized test scores before and after the use of interactive white boards	I will evaluate tests scores with permission from administration	May 1 – May 31	DMAC software, test scores	Does the data indicate any differences when technology is present? Is this relevant?

Making Research Relevant...

One thing I learned this week through my study of action research is that it is important for those conducting research to keep the topic relevant.  This could mean a variety of things, but specifically I think researchers need to look at how their study will be relevant to an issue or problem on their campus.  There are so many issues for administrators and teachers to tackle on a daily basis that sometimes we look for a "cure all" to solve many problems at once.  Dr. Lewis of Pasadena ISD said it best in his interview that research needs to be well thought out and "relevant" to the campus and what issue needs to be addressed.

Making Changes from the Inside Out...

Action Research
Action research is the process of studying a problem while actively engaging in the analysis, induction, and evaluation of a specific inquiry.  This type of research is different from the traditional model of knowledge generated from an outsider’s perspective and incorporated into a district to help solve a problem.  As Fichman (2009) describes in her text, administrators can instead use action research to improve their schools from the inside out.  This technique should be an excellent way to gain knowledge and add insight into the current integration of technology on our campus. 

Another important characteristic of action research is that it does not end when the anticipated “solution” is found.  Instead, it is an on-going analysis that continues even after the proposed recommendation is in place.  In the Harris, Edmonson, & Combs (2009) text, the analogy is constructed of how a Doctor treats a patient.  It is a continuing process that begins with a symptom, diagnosis, test results, treatment, and continued evaluation of the treatment plan.  This is important as we continue to update technology on our campus and realize how quickly some technology becomes obsolete. 

Action research is a great way for administrators to use logical, analytical, and data driven research from within their own school to evaluate and prescribe solutions to issues as they see the need.

Blogging
Blogging is a great way to communicate with others.  It allows for collaboration and is an easy medium through which many people can communicate quickly and efficiently.  Using this forum is also a great way to share research with colleagues that may be thousands of miles away (Fichman, 2009).  Blogging is a great forum for educators to communicate with one another and share ideas.  It could also be used to communicate with parents, students, community groups and others that have a direct need for information about events and activities going on inside the school.

References

Fichman, Nancy Dana (2009).  Leading with passion and knowledge: The principal as action Researcher.  Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Harris, S., Edmonson, S., and Combs, J. (2010).  Examining what we do to improve our schools: 8 steps to improve our schools.  Eye on Education Press.