Reflections on Web Literacy Training

Over the course of the last eight weeks I have learned so much about the web that I can now call myself "web literate". I have always been able to read for understanding and write factually -- even with a bit of scepticism. But now I can say I am educated enough about web grammar, search engines, and domain names; about the content standards in New York state that address internet and technology use; and even about the nature of inquiry itself and what makes a great question.
I have become fascinated by the teachings of Alan November in his book Web Literacy for Educators and have joined in his Building Learning Communities project. I have made is a personal professional development goal to expand my knowledge in this area and to implement web-based technologies in all my classes in order to develop a community of learners. I plan to attend the summer conference called BLC 10 in Boston this summer from July 14-16. (Maybe I'll see you there.)
The most striking aspect of my learning has been the idea of focusing on the ethical use of information found online. My students are masters of cut and paste assignments. They can construct a powerpoint presentation that would blow your mind - even if they understand very little of the content. As detectives, they can put facts in sequential order--facts they have never verified nor written themselves. By framing web assignments as ethics assignments where students ethical use of another's writing or image will be examined and graded, students do remarkable better on these same powerpoint presentations. They, themselves become more expert on a topic when researching it through this lens. I think it is brilliant. And it is in many ways one of the most important aspects of Web literacy.

Web Literacy

For learning and instruction of both the basics and the specifics of web source evaluation, there is no better example web site to use than the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus page found at the url: http:// zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/. After a lesson on search engines, in which the criteria for search results are explored, a google.com search on the term octopus will lead you right to this web page. Type octopus as a search term in the google search box. It places ninth in the search results listed so it is a very well-linked and well-liked web page.
Following the link takes you to a beautifully designed web page. Diagrams, aesthetically pleasing colors, and a plea to save the endangered creature draw you into reading the page. Tabs near the top make the page easy to navigate through and, look, there must be a thousand words of content. On first glance, there are several links on the page, news stories with recent dates, and ‘old’ advertisements depicting the creature in the 1920’s. Before we can believe the content, though, we should carry out an evaluation as suggested by November (2008).
Begin by reading the web address of the page: www.zapatopi.net/treeoctopus/. By truncating this address back to the first forward slash by hitting the back spare key, the domain name of the homepage for this information is found to be www.zapatopi.net. This is not an educational site ending in .edu or even a wildlife organization ending in .org. Navigating over to this shortened web address takes us to its home page, shown to the left . The home page contains mainly a blog dedicated to entertaining diversions by a person named Lyle Zapato. So simply Reading the url leads us to believe the content could be false. We could get distracted by all the links and content on this page but, lets stay focused on our evaluation.
Back at the tree octopus page, we should examine and evaluate the content shown. It seems legitimate. There is a photograph of an octopus in a tree – its coloring described by the text on the page and a believable map of areas where the creatures are found. Hovering over the darker green text changes the pointer to a hand, showing that these words are links to other web pages. But, examining the text, we read that the tree octopus is not actually on the endangered species list and further, that one of its predators is the mythical creature, the sasquatch.
Next, we also need to analyze the authorship of the web page if we are to trust its (now doubtful) content. Who is Lyle Zapato? No credentials are listed on his home page, nothing is mentioned about his expertise as either a biologist, a historian, or even a journalist working for a news outlet requiring fact checking. No problem, we have search engines at our command, so type in “Lyle Zapato” biography into a google search box and voila – the name shows up on a list of hoaxes maintained on the Wikipedia site. We see that, indeed, this site is a hoax.
Just for fun and the educational value of it, return to the tree octopus page to study the links. The first link, on the term Temperate Rainforest, takes us to a Wikipedia page whose neutrality is in dispute. A link on the photo of an old magazine cover showing a tree octopus hat from the 1920’s takes you to another webpage from the zapatopi home page. This is a great way to show students that links that keep you in the same web domain do not independently verify the legitimacy of the content they show. You just end up in a closed loop. There are also a few very clever News links on the tree octopus page like the link shown below.
2009-11-12 Steinhart Aquarium Successfully Breeds Dwarf Cuttlefish (Zoo & Aquarium Visitor)
Anchored to an algae-covered rock in a 120-gallon tank at the California Academy of Sciences' Steinhart Aquarium, a cluster of inky-colored cuttlefish eggs is beginning to swell -- evidence of success for the Academy's new captive breeding program for dwarf cuttlefish, Sepia Bandensis.
We are not to be fooled by these News links as anyone may link their web page to these pages. The Steinhart Aquarium does not mention a tree octopus nor does it link back to this web page. A different link on a logo with a name that is similar to the real conservation group Greenpeace turns out to be a false one that displays the message
”Sorry! We could not find www.greenpeas.org. It may be unavailable or may not exist. Try using the suggestions or related links below, or search again using our web search. “
The Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus website is a well-designed site. It is a very witty, entertaining site which can also be very helpful in learning and educating others about the legitimacy of information found on the web. I believe students will appreciate the colourful page design and be convinced of its authenticity simply by virtue of all the pages and pages of content. Many students, even older secondary school students, actually surf the web. They skim read and scroll through text looking for terms to use or information to quote without actually verifying facts with an independent site. The half-truths claimed can be convincing. The map of the Washington state area and likely photo shopped image of the octopus in tree branches are partially real, just manipulated in ways a sceptical web-surfer would be suspicious of.
Many web searches turn up blog pages as results. My high school science students have used information from web logs in past research projects and were confused as to why their information was questionable. Students must be able to recognize blog postings as opinion and determine whether they should risk believing the information they report. A blog posting can lead to an actual verified fact about the research topic, but the verification must first be undertaken.

Conducting Research in Education

Finding Answers by Starting with the Right Questions
Teachers are all very curious about how to teach 21st century learners. I know I am. Employing technology tools and engaging students in making meaning from the curriculum are suggestions for helping all students learn better. How well do they work?
In order to begin research in a topic of challenging educational importance, I have to formulate questions which prove and also disprove my own hypothesis. These questions drive the research and help me search for answers that could be already published. Answers can be found for teachers through scientific inquiry which is evidence based and conducted along accepted guiding principles. Quality questions determine the impact that research will have on accepted knowledge. ( McMillan & Schumaker, 2006, p.7)
In designing a research study, I have started with a problem statement. My problem statement is …I plan to evaluate the impact on unit test scores of web-based inquiry lessons versus traditional lecture and lab lessons of high school students in chemistry.

To start looking for answers I need to research questions for inquiry. These could fall into three question categories.
Descriptive questions: Which students benefit from learning via the web? Do some learners actually get hampered by learning involving a computer?
Relationship question: Do web based inquiry lessons teach content well? In other words, what is the relationship between inquiry lessons and recall of the content?
Difference question: Will students remember content better from their own inquiry differently than from teacher directed instruction? Will students understand content better from searching for answers to their own questions?

Reference: Mcmillan, James, and Sally Schumacher. "Fundamental Principles of Educational Research." Research in Education: Evidence Based Inquiry (6th Edition). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon, 2006. 1-20. Print.

Educational Research in Science

I am designing an educational research project about web-based inquiry. As a master's student in Instructional Technology, I know well that students in the 21st century learn differently than past generations. It is rare to find a classroom in the U.S. today that does not use the world wide web in some way, but are teachers using the web in significant, meaningful ways?
I am interested in finding out how well my high school science students actually learn using the web. In inquiry projects, the students pose meaningful questions and search out the answers. High school science courses, however, are packed with content leaving little time in the year for exploring issues of interest to students. Since inquiry based projects are designed to help students become better thinkers and better question designers, will this translate to better understanding of core curriculum required in a high school science class? It makes sense to know this before redesigning class curricula, so I have developed this research question:

I plan to evaluate the impact of web-based inquiry lessons versus traditional lecture and lab lessons on the achievement of high school students in chemistry.


I am interested in your feedback and opinions on the work, on the topic, and on the research question itself. I'd like to make sure I am covering all the bases and your collaboration adds more brainpower and creativity to the process.

Reflection: Bridging Theory and Instruction

Teenagers in the 21st century use technology tools a great deal. As teachers, we need to reach our students with technology and at the same time teach our students how to use technology effectively. In the same way that teachers apply various modern and historical educational learning theories to paper-and-pencil learning, I have learned to approach learning using technology. My personal philosophy of education is a hybrid of constructionism, cognitivism, and behaviorism that essentially has not changed throughout this course. What has changed is my awareness of important instructional strategies which will lead my students to be more successful learners.
From thirty years of research, Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, and Malenoski (2007) determined nine categories of instructional strategies that affect student achievement. I have, begun to emphasize identifying similarities and differences as well as summarizing and note taking in all of my science classes. These two strategies were shown to increase student achievement the most (p.8). Web tools like www.bubbl.us, which create online graphic organizers help students do both well.
I still believe that a unique construction of knowledge takes place in each of my students’ brains during whatever lesson I teach. Our video resources, reminded me that all learning theories are centered around students actively engaged in learning (Laureate Education, Inc., 2008). Valuable engaging teaching, helps my students synthesize ideas through their own mental filters, and leads them to create their own meaning. This is easy to accomplish using technology tools and software where students construct creative projects to demonstrate their learning on just about any topic.
I have always believed that positive reinforcement is an essential component of a safe classroom environment. I have used online drill and practice activities in the past. Keeping in mind the strategies of successful learners, I have sought out technology resources and found games that will lead to more higher-order complex thinking by my students. Games created by CalTech scientists like the Spitzer Spectrometer game found online at http://coolcosmos.ipac.caltech.edu/cosmic_games/spectra/spectrometerDemo.htm go beyond rote recall of facts. The game has different skill levels and challenges students to Identify similarities and differences in order to excel in the game.
I have two long-term goals for integrating technology further into my instructional practice. I would like my students reflect and share their learning in chemistry using a class discussion board. I know this is possible on the Blackboard Academy site I have set up this year and I have enrolled in professional development training to accomplish this goal. I would also like students in all my classes to track how their achievement in my class correlates with their effort.
I will continue to learn and to improve my practice, pairing instructional theory with learning outcomes that involve technology. I have begun to improve the educational value for students of the technology tools I have already use. I have not only learned how to use new Web 2.0 tools, I have leaned to bring them thoughtfully and meaningfully into my instruction in the high school science classes I teach.

References:
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008). Program eleven. Instructional Strategies, Part One [Motion picture]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Baltimore: Author.
Pitler, H. , Hubbell, E. R., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using Technology with Classroom Instruction That Works . Alexandria: Ascd.

Technology and Social Learning

When I think of social learning my mind links it to cooperative learning groups of four students with established roles and individual accountability. Cooperative learning has been around for years but has been brought into focus for me through my graduate course resources on social learning while, at the same time, being expanded to embrace computer technology. Adding this dimension expands the definition of a group to include the computer as a group member in the role Orey calls a “knowledgeable other”. (2001) Students today can create and publish more accurate, thorough projects than ever before with the world wide web of information at their fingertips. The ‘smart kid’ in the group is now the computer.
Online web 2.0 tools are becoming prevalent in more classrooms today as savvy teachers create discussion groups online. This is another aspect of social learning. Wiki pages or class web pages can facilitate the exchange of knowledge and expression of opinion in a social way that allows teachers to monitor all conversations. Students in the 21st century may even be more comfortable with these methods.
Reference: Orey, M. (Ed.). (2001). Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/

Teachers Share Your Ideas for Using Technology

I have created and published my first ever Voicethread presentation on the topic of using computer labs in school. view it here http://voicethread.com/share/661269/

Constructing Learning Using Computers

Computers have changed so much in education; they have even changed education itself. Why learn and recite facts on a test when you can always look them up in a few seconds? The last time you actually performed long division was in what decade?
When we decide to use computers as tools for learning in the classroom, we can provide our students with valuable opportunities to construct knowledge for themselves and for others in unique ways. "(T)he computer can be seen as a cognitive tool to learn 'with' as opposed to learn 'from'". (Robertson, Elliot, & Robinson, 2007) Add in the ability to connect this learning to concrete experiences and the requirement of self-reflection about students' learning and the results can be powerful.
Given the right resources, students can use computers to collect data, retreive data from others' work, sort data, and present data. Information on the entire world is available online today on the internet. Any 'artifact' or project they create from this information forces students to think about the information they are choosing to include, assign it significance, and relate it to other facts. Beyond research online, students can use other computer applications to analyze their findings. They can create projects to present what they've found beyond the limits of their memory or communication skills, beyond their capability to spell or calculate, and beyond their talents of drawing, graphing or even organizing. The process of creating can completely engage the learner.

Reference:

Robertson, B., Elliot, L., & Robinson, D. (2007). Cognitive tools. In M. Orey (Ed.), Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved October 1, 2009 from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/

Cognitive Learning and Technology

This is a topic near and dear to my heart. As teachers we are brain builders trying to make memories for our students. We must use every avenue available to get learning into their long term memories. From humor to images and from rhymes to actual hands on objects, our goal is to get students to hang new learning on the existing branches of their cognition. Students in our high school classrooms create and interpret concept maps making connections between concepts with pencil lines which we hope will be connections in their minds.
How we ever did this without today's technology tools is a wonder. I began teaching in the age before the internet was available and now I use it daily to access images, lab simulations, models of molecules, even songs and poems. My best lessons start by tapping into students cognition by asking for prior knowledge to be written into their notes or by asking their ideas and questions about a visual image on the smartboard or a video from YouTube. I can remember tearing out pre-made blackline masters of concept maps from text workbooks to turn into overhead acetates and now online concept map creators like www.bubbl.us make a professional product out of my own connected ideas for a lesson and, even better, my students' ideas. As a class we can even take virtual field trips to another part of the globe or to a far away science research project through the internet and then post our responses on our own class webpage.

Teaching Science with Technology and a Behaviorist Approach

Teachers study all types of education philosophies to prepare for working with students. One popular, although perhaps old-fashioned, philosophy is Behaviorism [a great tutorial on what behaviorism is from the University of Georgia Department of Educational Psychology and Instructional Technology can be found at http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/index.php?title=Behaviorism]. Decades ago psychologists began to explore stimulus – response behaviors in animals and people. Both respond to positive reinforcement like attention and rewards and negative reinforcement like punishment. Education today is a complex process involving addressing different learning styles, implementing a more thorough understanding of how the brain thinks and stores memories , and the creation of meaningful learning environments for all students. I believe that behaviorist approaches still can be valuable in the high school science classroom.
In secondary science education, we face challenges with our students that come from years of conditioning. Many students enter our rooms believing they are no good at science, or that they are not smart enough to excel in science, or even that science is too hard. It is difficult to coax out of students the effort it takes to learn ideas, practice skills, and persist because effort pays off. Pitler, Hibbell, Kuhn, and Malenoski in their book Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works reassured me that “(s)tudents can learn to operate from a belief that effort pays off even if they do not initially have this belief.” (2007, p155) Technology can provide terrific tools to reinforce student effort. From Behaviorism we know that students need to feel success to know that their effort paid off. Using a rubric and a spreadsheet program available to most computer users, teachers can direct students to enter their effort in various categories and compare it to their weekly quiz or test results. The computer can chart their effort next to their achievement in a side by side bar graph – a wonderful visual reinforcement for students. (Pitler, Hibbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007, pp 157-160). This application of technology and the time it takes to implement in class teaches students the value of effort. It is data driven – perfect for science classes. I am excited to try this approach this year.

Reflection on Technology in the Classroom

I took the online course Understanding the Impact of Technology on Education, Work, and Society eager to learn all I can about the web tools and other technologies involved in preparing a 21st century citizenry. I explored blogs, created one myself, and contributed to a group wiki. I even prepared my first podcast. As a professional educator, I know these technology skills will be useful and one day essential. I also know that I must keep learning and training in this area to keep confident and current and to refine my practice.

My perception of the learners in my classes has also changed. I have come to realize, nine years into this century, that we educators need to do more to help our students create successful futures. We are now in what Bernie Trilling in his article “Towards learning societies and the global challenges for learning with ICT” calls the “Knowledge Age.”(2005,1) Thinking critically and creatively are more important than content knowledge. Working collaboratively will be essential in the near and distant future. But this is different from the cooperative learning of the past. My savvy science students are focused on their cell phones, sending creative text messages, and collaborating through social networking pages. My new classroom tool--an interactive smartboard-- will help me teach creatively using technology and bring the resources of the world wide web onto a screen at the front of the room. But am I effectively teaching my students? Do my lessons match their skill sets? Am I fighting their learning preferences when I constantly fight against cell phone use during class or internet browsing in the computer lab?

My goal at the end of the course is to adapt to the learning styles of this generation of students. I have playfully added Instant Messages into a few of my lesson presentations – a simple trick on the smartboard to “distract” students with pertinent information on the topic. I have modified lessons to provide a visual image first, followed by text or calculation and quickened the pace of media followed by repetition that appears new or different . Within the next two years I hope to have successfully implemented lessons involving both a class wiki and a podcast in my high school chemistry course that are meaningful resources for students and result in improvement in student understanding of the science of chemistry. Overcoming the implied objections that come with a required high stakes state test covering 17 units of content in ten months of study has been and will be my biggest hurdle. I’ll also need training and experience in directing and managing filters for internet based lessons to keep students directed and on task. (I’ve asked to be included in school in-service training on this topic.) Rather than closure, I find I am just beginning to explore the impact of technology in my own classroom and am even more eager to learn.

LINK TO ARTICLE MENTIONED: http://www.techlearning.com/techlearning/pdf/events/techforum/ny05/Toward_Learning_Societies.pdf

Digital Natives in My Classroom

Here's my first ever podcast! Check it out and let me know what you think-
http://podcastmachine.com/podcasts/1020/episodes/4538/media_files/13671/download/3/file_128kb.m4a

PARTNERSHIP FOR 21st CENTURY SKILLS

"Preparing students for the 21st century" is a phrase on the lips of school administrators everywhere. Our own suburban New York high school principal has asked study groups of staff members to form to study the question - Are we preparing our students for the 21st century? As an assignment for my Understanding the Impact of Technology on Education, Work, and Society grad. school class, I visited the website: http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/. They are the self described "...leading advocacy organization infusing 21st century skills into education."
I watched an interesting YouTube video link to a speech by president Ken Kay expressing ideas every teacher would agree with, specifically that all students deserve both "world class content and world class skills." I agree with their basic premise and many of their ideas appear to be sound ones. Weaving curricula together through interdisciplinary themes and adding global awareness into the core curricula should be features of all schools today. More lessons on Learning and Innovation, and Information, Media and Technology Skills seem in order to prepare our students for a different future than we were prepared for.
I was inspired and intrigued to read what they had to say yet found myself frustrated by the web site they had created. As I navigated the site I was constantly redirected to the colorful logo any business executive would love. Called the "framework for 21st century teaching and learning", it is a bit obscure -- a rainbow on a pedestal labelled with terms that need defining and complex ideas that deserve elaboration. Browsing Resources I consistently hit walls - The link 21st Century Information Fluency/Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy took me to a page explaining how the info is now proprietary. The link 21st Century Skills and ePortfolio High School Curriculum took me to a page that linked me to a sakai to join. But I perservered and found the link -http://www.cellt.org/diglib titled "For Immediate Download" and there were pdf files of interesting lessons to try.
This project shows that important work is underway studying and exploring how we can best prepare students for this centiry of innovation and comminucation and could be a useful resource for contemporary educators. The biggest change I would appreciate and advocate for is the focus on Life and Career skills of flexibility, adaptation, initiative, self-direction, productivity and accountability. These skills are highly prized and lacking in many high school students in my classes. Interestingly, they are not skills that require high tech tools to teach either.

Found a cool website for seeing the art in science - great for providing visual stimulation and prompts for conversations about science
www.princeton.edu/artofscience/2009

Using Blogs in Chemistry Class

I enter my classroom each morning, ask each 10th or 11th grade student to put their cell phone away. By 7:30 atleast one student has received a text message too tempting to ignore and slyly reads it under their desk. These are the students of the "communication age" a term developed by Dr. David Thornburg.
Instead of fighting their technical prowess on a cell phone, laptop or desktop, I could enter the communication age and invite them to apply their interest in social networking to the learning of the subject at hand -- NY State Regents' Chemistry. Designing a blog for my chemistry classes to read and post to would serve several purposes. If we use our classroom blog to collaborate, each student could post a chemistry problem, solve it, and explain how they solved it. This would allow all students to:
- Practice defining and explaining their problem solving strategies.
- Explore and work through their own thinking and put it into wordsin their posting, improving their metacognition in the process.
- Examine how their peers are solving the same problems, possibly seeing different problem strategies for the same or similar problems.
- Interact with other problem solvers.
- Use the collection of problems as review before tests or the final exam.
- Post links to online chemistry resources.

Using the Web to Enhance Learning

So, where were we? Educators are preparing our students for the 21st Century. Children beginning school today will enter a world where there are more honors students in India than we even have students in the U.S. So what does the future of education look like in the U.S.? In the near future it will involve a massive increase in the inclusion and use of the world wide web in America's classrooms. What's more , students will necessarily move from reading the web - like using browsers and search enginges to find info-- into writing the web by creating blogs, social spaces, wikis and even changing the info that is searched and gathered. Web evangelist Will Richardson in his book Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and other powerful Web Tools for Classrooms spells it all out, "(students) are no longer limited to being independent readers or consumers of information; as we'll see, (they) can be collaborators in the creation of large storehouses of information." (2009,2)
A course in blogging , wiki management, or podcast training? Which teachers or librarians will take this on? Will all teachers have to? Will it be as essential as reading and writing across the curriculum?