Classroom Response Systems for Action Research in the Classroom

In my Classroom Technology class, we have compared and contrasted different classroom response systems that can be used to get students involved in the learning experience. Most educators use these systems for simple review games and activities, but the real power of these systems is to use them as a way to do action research in the classroom. The classroom response system should provide the teacher with actionable information about each students' understanding of the standards. The information gathered with a classroom response system should be used to determine if additional instruction or activities are needed in order to help each student better meet a content standard. In our class, we have discussed a process of action research that can be used with a classroom response system.

In this process, a teacher sets a learning objective and then uses a classroom response system to take a baseline measurement of student knowledge about the learning objective. Then the teacher plans and implements a lesson, activity or project that will help students reach the learning objective. After the lesson, activity or project, the teacher uses the classroom response system again to determine whether students have learned the objective and makes any adjustments to the implementation that are needed. In this model, the learning activities are always tied to and adjusted based on actual learning data, rather than just anecdotal evidence or observations.

So far in our class we have compared four classroom response systems, Poll Everywhere, Plickers, Kahoot, and Socrative. Many of these have been covered in previous blog posts, which can be linked here (Poll Everywhere, Plickers, Kahoot) Here are some of the similarities and differences between these tools:

Survey Data: What technology Tools are Available in SD Classrooms?

I recently sent out a survey gathering information about educational technology use among South Dakota teachers. There are approximately 12,000 teachers in our state, my survey email was sent to 12,161 potential respondents and I recieved roughly 10 percent of responses back, about 1187 people responded by filling out the survey. I'll present some of the interesting findings here on the Educational Technology for teachers blog as occasion permits. Since I have not yet analyzed the data from the survey, these results are just preliminary, but still compelling. Today's post is about the availability of key technology tools in the South Dakota classroom.

Teachers were asked which of the following items are always or almost always available in their classroom, here's how they responded:

Technologies that are always or almost always available in South Dakota K-12 classrooms

Based on these results, we can infer that about 72% of South Dakota teachers have a laptop to do their work while only about 46% have desktop computers in their classroom. Only about 40% of teachers have a tablet computer such as an iPad to work with in the classroom. The most common technological tool in today's South Dakota classrooms is an interactive whiteboard such as a Smart Board, Promethean board or another brand. These are found in over 75% of South Dakota classrooms.

Based on this data, in all there are roughly 53% of south dakota classrooms that are 1:1 environments, in which a device is available for all students in the class, whether that device is a tablet, laptop or desktop computer. The most common 1:1 device is the laptop computer, and 34% of South Dakota classrooms have a laptop available for each student.

Another question that teachers responded to was about the technology tools available at schools but not always in the classroom. Here's how they responded:

Technologies that are available at South Dakota K-12 schools, but not always available in classrooms

Many different technology tools are available at schools, but some of the more commonly available items are laptop computers (35%), printers (59%), document cameras (35%), interactive whiteboards (32%) and classroom clickers for each student (37%). All of these items, except interactive whiteboards, are more likely to be available for checkout and occasional use rather than constant use in the classroom.

Ed Tech Podcast for SD Teachers Episode 31: Should I create a class website or a class blog?

Throughout our history, we have asked important questions, such as, "why is there air?" "How many people does it take to change a light bulb?" and "Did the chicken or the egg come first?" One age old question that teachers have asked is, "should I create a class website or a class blog?" In this podcast episode I help to answer this age old question  by discussing when you might want a blog or a website. I also discuss alternatives to both approaches and some of the tools that teachers use to create websites, blogs, online photo albums and text/email message blasters.

Here are some of the tools I mention in this episode:

Website creation tools:

• Weebly
• Wix
• Google Sites

Blog creation tools:

• Blogger.com
• Kidblog.org

Online photo albums:

• iCloud
• Picasa Web Albums

General Classroom Management (with message/blog sharing):

• Class Dojo

Text/Email Message Blaster:

• Remind.com

Using Symbaloo for Teaching and Learning

In a recent Classroom Technology class session, one of my graduate students shared this great tool for organizing your online life. Symbaloo allows you to make webpages that contain links to all of the important websites for your classroom. You can create and share a page full of links to your students, their parents or another group. Then your students only have to go to one website, and all of the links they may need are provided there. Here's the recording:

Have you used Symbaloo for your own teaching and learning? What are the benefits for your class?

Interactive Whiteboard Activities That Get Students Up Out Of Their Desks

We're moving into a new unit in my Educational Technology and Distance Teaching class - interactive whiteboards for higher order learning. In this unit I teach about how to use the most common interactive whiteboard software to create engaging presentations. But the real power of interactive whiteboards has always been the opportunities they provide for student interaction and higher-order learning. My students who are often new to teaching with an interactive whiteboard, often make the mistake of just presenting at the board while students just watch from their seats. They soon learn that the best presentations take advantage of the affordances of the interactive whiteboard and have students come up to interact with the board.

What are some of the activities that students can do at the board? My book, Educational Technology for Teachers provides several different types of activities that support student engagement and interaction and here are some of the types of activities with videos showing how to create them with interactive whiteboard software:

• Click to reveal
• Sort items into categories
• Color reveal
• Drag to target

These and other types of activities can be compelling ways for students to get involved in their own learning on an interactive whitebaord. Northern State University education students learn to create these and other activities so that they can successfully support higher-order learning and student interaction in the classroom.

Ed Tech Podcast for SD Teachers Episode 30: Ideas for Getting Started integrating Technology in Your Classroom

Have you been asked to integrate technology in your classroom, but you don't know where to start? In this episode, I share some ideas from Doug Johnson's book, The Classroom Teacher's Technology Survival Guide. First I share some ideas to change non-technology-based activities into technology-based ones. Then I share about some basic and easy activities and technologies that can be incorporated into classroom learning.