For those of you who are new to Dr. Lowell’s class, my name is Pam Callahan and I am a fourth year math teacher at Powell County High School in Stanton, Kentucky (about 45 minutes southeast of Lexington).   This year, I am teaching all Geometry courses (six of them), and am having a blast because it my favorite class to teach.

My family consists of my husband of almost 16 years, Bob, who is very savvy with technology and gives me good resources, two cats of my own and two adoptees from the neighborhood, and a rabbit.  In my spare time, I love to hike and am picking up rock climbing again after a long break.  I also love to cross-stitch and enjoy surfing the net for new information on just about anything.  My favorite TV shows are Medium and CSI.

I am taking this class because I am working on a second master’s (equivalent to a Rank I) in Educational Computing Technology.  I will finish my degree in Summer I.  I learned an incredible amount about educational technology in EDUC 685 with Dr. Lowell (I left my posts up for anyone who is interested), and am excited about this class.  I expect that this class will have many similarities to last semester, frantically learning new things, posting to blogs, good communicating, and a final project that is relevant to what I am teaching (last semester was creating a wiki, which I will continue to update for fellow teachers).

In reviewing the chapter in Kearsley’s book on research, I found that one component of his research that was evident in each example of distance learning was student success (grades, motivation, amount learned). In the course evaluations, students learned as much as and sometimes more than in traditional courses. In one case, the students in the online course covered more material. As students gain more experience with online courses, they gain confidence in using technology and are more adept at learning at higher levels. One specific example in the text of student success was the Co-Nect project. Students involved in this project had gains in statewide assessments, fewer discipline issues, took more ownership in their learning, and had more parent involvement. These are all things that I would like to see with my students. Kearsley brings out the point that certain types of students and certain types of teachers are better suited to online education. I think that once students and teachers master basic technology skills, the advantages of online learning can take place.

1. For my final project, I propose to make a wiki that will be useful for math teachers. My wiki will be a tutorial of how a math teacher can integrate technology successfully in the classroom. I will use techniques that we have learned this semester, such as setting up blogs, working with TappedIn, gator feeds, net tools, and links to math sites and discussion groups which will be useful in teaching new concepts. The primary audience will be middle and high school teachers. My motivation for creating this wiki is from talking to other math teachers at conferences and how much they love attending because of getting new resources and ideas.  The way that I will know that it is working is that I am going to invite teachers to have their students join my students in working on collaborative projects.  I am going to also set up a blog where everyone can share their experiences.

1. Does the global nature of the web have an effect on evaluation? Yes, I believe that the increase in access to information has affected evaluation. With the graduate classes I have taken that required research papers, I used a lot of online journal articles and web pages as resources. Ten years ago, I would have used what was in the university library, so the availability of information has changed. Also, I think the nature of assignments has changed because of the web. Instructors have more access to resources, and therefore, can create more varied projects.
2. Are the goals and objectives changed when you take a course online compared to classroom based instruction? I believe that some goals and objectives have changed with online classes.  Communication which normally occurred as dialogue in the classroom is now in the form of discussion boards, blogs, podcasts, and emails.  It is like getting a participation grade for attending a regular class versus submitting a certain number of postings online.  Other goals and objectives remain the same in some courses, such as tests and final projects.

Source:  http://durandus.com/phaedrus/2007/11/02/hate-and-discontent/

Phaedrus posted this to his blog this week:

An unnamed but much appreciated member of our class sent me this (slightly edited) email message:

I just feel that during this whole class you give the impression that you have all the answers and many times set in “judgment” of others. I think that you may be interested in knowing that I am not the only one who feels this way in this class and many of your students are setting back wondering “what is this class supposed to be doing” … I think that many of us were under the impression that we would be provided with effective tools for developing on-line teaching environments and the majority of what we have learned is how to “come up” with a bunch of blogs for the purpose of trying to receive a half-way good grade for that week which we have learned is impossible in your class!

The way it was written sounded like it was speaking for most of the class.  I do not feel this way.  This was my response:

In response to the discontent person, I appreciate that this person has expressed their frustration with this course, I think that it will help others who are frustrated as well because Nate gives a good answer to their concerns. I do not share the same opinion as this person, as I have gotten a lot of benefit from this class. I do have tools that I can use with my students, the reading has been very beneficial, I love using the reader to keep track of classmates and OLDaily. I find myself taking several hours to do our weekly assignments because I get sidetracked by following hyperlinks within articles. I measure my success with how much new information I gather instead of my grade. My goal when I set out in this program was not to strive for the A, but to do the best I can. In 72 hours of graduate work to date, I have one B (Research Methods), and I realized that I was putting undue stress on myself by working for the A. At this point, if I got a B, it is not going to adversely affect my GPA, and I am not going to lose my job over it. I was brought up in a society that says A or else, and it is not always a true measure of success. It means that you got a certain number of points. My students get A’s, but some of them, when I have them the following year, have forgotten things I have taught them the year before, they memorized and forgot. Did they really learn? That goes back to last week’s postings on learning. How do we know that students are really learning?

So the bottom line is, are you learning, and if not, what can you do to change it so that you are? Communication is key.

In a student centered classroom, we are responsible for our learning.

One way to assess students who are thinking like learners could be to give them projects to expand their knowledge of a particular concept. My textbook resources come with enrichment activities, and I have been able to squeeze in about one a month. Another way could be to have students do a presentation on an applied topic. The key is that there has to be communication between the learner and the teacher. There has to be that “proof” that the learning has taken place.

I get into a quandary when I am assessing student learning. I still do the traditional methods of grading homework, giving quizzes and tests, grading notebooks, and try to fit in the projects, but I still don’t feel like I am getting to the heart of the matter. Am I proving by giving a good grade that my students are learning? I think so, and then I will move onto a new topic, go back and ask a question I think they should remember, and most of them don’t. Did they really learn?

One student made a comment to me last week that when I teach something new, she just pushes out the stuff she had learned before.  But if I keep going back and reteaching, then I don’t cover the content.  It makes me feel like I am not an effective teacher for this student, and I don’t know how to turn this student into a learner.  I think teachers who have a higher number of students during the day have the greatest challenge.  If every kid has a different way of learning, how can you best address everyone?  Does it mean teaching a topic eight different ways?

In summary, I have ideas about how to know if my students are learning, but none of them have proved true all of the time.  Maybe I need to overhaul my ways of assessing.  I have more questions than answers, and still feel like I am in the experimental stage of assessment.

When I went to Google and did a search on “teacher blogs”, there were over 13,600,000 entries. This didn’t surprise me because teachers are good communicators. One of my recent favorites has been the Cool Cat Teacher (http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com). This site addresses global issues that are affecting educators and provides tools to use to better enhance student learning. The most current topic is the flat classroom, which is based on the book by Thomas Friedman. Has anyone out there read this book? If so, what did you think?

There are also teacher wikis out there where information about curriculum is being shared. Some teachers subscribe to education interest groups to get postings on current topics. I just joined http://www.edweek.org and am receiving emails of current articles. This site also has access to blogs, interest groups, etc. The basic membership is free. Here is a sample of the types of articles there. http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2007/10/17/08nclb.h27.html?tmp=54725754

My “old” way of communicating with other teachers was through emails of individuals I met at professional development conferences or joining local math organizations.  Using the new communication tools from this class has opened up a whole new world of access to information.

Source: http://www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm

I really enjoyed reading about connectivism because the theory fits well with our information society. Learning begins with the individual and increases by interaction with others through a social network.  I have been affected by this type of learning.  For example, before the Internet was available, when I would want or need to find information, I would either go to the local library or the local bookstore to read magazines or books or newspapers.  Sometimes, I would be able to find someone who knew the answer.  Now if I want to know something, I just go to Google and review sites.  Google has become my cookbook, my telephone directory, my encyclopedia, my newspaper, and so on.  Learners of today learn in much this same way, if they want to know it, they use this network of information resources to find what they need.

Constructivism seems to be the latest theory that college educators and administrators are following to promote student learning.  It is known as the student-centered classroom.  Teachers are there to provide students with the opportunity to learn.  I believe that constructivism is a valid theory in that it does put the process of learning on the individual.  In order for students to learn a topic, they have to become active about their learning.  It is what I posted in my earlier blog entry that I wanted to do with my students in my classroom, provide them ways of learning that help them learn to be independent thinkers.  I do not think that it is a religion.  I think that it is a sound theory which seems to be making its way to the forefront of the education community. 

What I know about teaching and learning theories were taught to me in Advanced Human Growth and Development and Secondary Curriculum.  What I remember from taking these classes are the ideas of constructivism and Piaget and Vygotsky because they made sense to me.  I want students to be responsible for their learning, and I want to give them activities which challenge them to help bring about learning.  Sad to say, the other theories are not memorable to me.  I guess you could say that I did not make a connection to them.

In the dynamic system that is a course, active learners do have more than one role. When the teacher is presenting the materials to be learned, the student becomes a listener. When students work in groups, they can be a learner, a teacher, a facilitator, and/or a presenter.

What’s the function of a “know-it-all” in the class? Does that person have a purpose in the over all scheme of things? This type of person is someone who enjoys expressing the knowledge they have about a particular subject, whether it is the classroom topic or something completely unrelated. They want to be heard by others, and they do not take criticism well. Their purpose in the scheme of things is giving knowledge to others. The challenge with having this kind of student in class is that they can hinder the learning of others. By being allowed to answer almost all the questions, they are not giving other students in the class time to process knowledge (thinking). Intimidation can occur if teachers allow this student to be the only one to answer. It is up to the teacher to find a role for this student (such as a tutor for other students) so that the “know it all” feels useful.

Where does the “teacher’s pet” come into play? A teacher’s pet is a student who is willing to go above and beyond to please their teacher. When a teacher dotes on this type of student too much, other students feel “cheated” of the teacher’s attention. The key here is to not allow any student to be seen as the favorite in the class. Teachers need to treat all students as equally as they can.

How do we deal with “front row/back row” dynamics online?  First, the online instructor has to determine who is a front row learner and who is a back row learner.  This can be done with discussions threads.  Front row learners generate lots of postings, back row learners tend to do the minimum necessary to get by.  Then, the instructor needs to engage the back row learners in conversations via email, discussion board, and/or putting him/her with a front row learner in a group activity.  In the classroom, it is much easier to do because you are a physical presence and can walk right up to a student and ask them a question, making them compelled to respond.  Much more difficult in the online environment.