3.1 Classroom Management & Collaborative Learning
Candidates model and facilitate effective classroom management and collaborative learning strategies to maximize teacher and student use of digital tools and resources. (PSC 3.1/ISTE 3a)
ITEC 8500
Problem-Based Learning Video
In ITEC 8500, I explored the role of Instructional Technology in motivating and inspiring students and teachers. Because Instructional Technology is applied in numerous ways in schools, I chose one iteration of it to focus my final video project on: Project- or Problem-based learning (PBL). I produced a research-based argument in video form in which I posited that PBL effectively puts students in the position of pacing and controlling their learning to an extent which mirrors actual adult life. The video includes visuals, background music, and a script which argues the importance of the use of digital tools and resources when promoting a positive but rigorous, student-centered classroom environment. I linked the video on our Teacher Training page to inspire curriculum leads to try out the PBL Digital Argument I used in my AP Language and Composition class.
This video argues that a PBL approach to learning encourages an authentic learning experience which can promote a healthy, easier classroom management situation for the teacher. Students often struggle with boredom and mental stagnation when they are asked to receive information in a lecture format rather than synthesize the information and skills they have learned to solve a problem that is authentic. This boredom leads to behavior problems; ironically, the control the teacher seeks backfires because students are not given control of their learning. For actual problems of our time, we need students who can think on their own. PBL lets students acquire the content knowledge they need while also setting them free to imagine or create. Technology in the PBL classroom should help to answer the question, “What tools will students necessarily be asked to work with outside of school?” Questions like these help facilitate the shift in thinking toward letting student control some of the content in the classroom. It is possible that a technology-rich space, where multiple everyday technologies are laid next to each other, will empower PBL outcomes. (Ioannou, et al., 2016, p. 1027). Further, teachers at my school need to know how PBL might be applied so as not to complicate matters for the teachers. In fact, a major part of classroom management is attending to the needs of the teacher. The video addresses two common concerns of the teachers I work with : PBL creates a mess of activities that don’t feel focused, and the teacher feels out of control, or worthless since she isn’t “teaching”. However, the video stresses the importance of the art of the teacher as a guide and provides models of how the PBL might look. The teacher knows best which information to hand over to the technology while the so-called “drawbacks” of PBL are entrusted to the talented adult who manages the classroom.
Further, PBL encourages collaborative learning that is active, not simply “group-work” which is often passive for the learners who are not extroverted. The right balance of PBL and technology infusion requires a teacher’s artful instructional design to make sure that the right questions serve up challenging problems that students can learn to work through on their own. “One of the key benefits for Multimedia learning is that it can provide flexibility for the learner. Teachers at our school fear that PBL doesn’t focus enough on the skills we are required to teach. But the video models solutions for teaching skills while allowing students choice. Research is clear in an important way: problem-based learning helps students to meet and even exceed district standards (Ertmer). Teachers may need practice in becoming an effective facilitator of PBL, since the adoption of the learning method does invite some chaos. The fear of opening up too many possibilities for students is understandable. But this is where an LMS may help. A teacher greatly reduces the amount of wide-open space students are exposed to while also letting students pace themselves through content. The video facilitates the broader understanding of how technology may be used to monitor student learning in a PBL environment so as to encourage collaboration but also satisfy individual student skill progress. Digital tools and resources match with the best ideals of PBL: that students can self pace and satisfy their curiosity while also learning skills districts require (Deimann, p.4). Arguably, this flexibility may not be helpful to the learner who is overwhelmed by the organization of the multimedia environment, and so the video stresses the importance of the classroom teacher who knows her class and how to help them learn strategies for self-regulation (Ioannu, 2016). The video synthesizes current research and provides commentary that helps to facilitate a persuasive mindset shift for the classroom teacher at our school.
The video project pushed me into learning how to edit instructional videos. Of all the skills in the ITEC program, video creation and editing is my least favorite one to learn. So, producing this video allowed me to find an application I liked working with in order to produce the video as well, it allowed me to troubleshoot some of the features that weren’t as user-friendly. My struggle with learning the editing program paid off, though, since I was able to help students create their own videos for a similar project we did in my AP language classroom. I modeled a PBL unit that ended with a video like this one. I learned also that students of mine have a much more favorable outlook on video production than I do, and so to rob them of that opportunity because I am not myself comfortable with it would be a shame. When I create my next video, I will absolutely use a script that has been “tuned” for voice-over. Speaking an academic synthesis can get very boring, and so the next video I do will be adjusted to have auditory impact as well as textual and visual impact.
Immediately, I was able to share this video with my students I was teaching when I produced it. I wondered if they would be able to “write” an argument like this - one where they were encouraged to use digital content to supplement their own voice in a form of delivery that was interesting and inspiring. The format of the script, a chart with pictures on one side and the text on the other, taught them that digital content must be chosen wisely to support a thesis, that references ought to “talk” to one another, and that there has to be a focus to the argument. Above that, the listening audience must be led through the argument using vocal inflection that does not break for the insertion of textual evidence. So, this video helped me to directly model the use of digital tools to inspire my students toward a more authentic, personally engaging type of argument. Because my students were engaged in the Digital Argument project we did, I noticed almost no motivation problems and even witnessed some growth in critical thinking that I had not been able to witness in a classic essay. I shared my findings with my curriculum teams and encouraged them to try the unit.
References
Deimann, M. & Keller, J. (2006). Volitional Aspects of Multimedia Learning. Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia. 15 (2), pp. 137-158. Waynesville, NC USA: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE).
Ertmer, P.A., Glazewski, K.D., Jones, D., Ottenbreit-Leftwich, A., Goktas, Y., Collins, K. & Kocaman, A. (2009). Facilitating Technology-Enhanced Problem-based Learning (PBL) in the Middle School Classroom: An Examination of How and Why Teachers Adapt. Journal of Interactive Learning Research. 20 (1), pp. 35-54. Waynesville, NC: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE).
Ioannou, Andri & Vasiliou, Christina & Zaphiris, Panayiotis. (2016). Problem-Based Learning in Multimodal Learning Environments: Learners Technology Adoption Experiences. Journal of Educational Computing Research. 54. 10.1177/0735633116636755.
Problem-Based Learning Video
In ITEC 8500, I explored the role of Instructional Technology in motivating and inspiring students and teachers. Because Instructional Technology is applied in numerous ways in schools, I chose one iteration of it to focus my final video project on: Project- or Problem-based learning (PBL). I produced a research-based argument in video form in which I posited that PBL effectively puts students in the position of pacing and controlling their learning to an extent which mirrors actual adult life. The video includes visuals, background music, and a script which argues the importance of the use of digital tools and resources when promoting a positive but rigorous, student-centered classroom environment. I linked the video on our Teacher Training page to inspire curriculum leads to try out the PBL Digital Argument I used in my AP Language and Composition class.
This video argues that a PBL approach to learning encourages an authentic learning experience which can promote a healthy, easier classroom management situation for the teacher. Students often struggle with boredom and mental stagnation when they are asked to receive information in a lecture format rather than synthesize the information and skills they have learned to solve a problem that is authentic. This boredom leads to behavior problems; ironically, the control the teacher seeks backfires because students are not given control of their learning. For actual problems of our time, we need students who can think on their own. PBL lets students acquire the content knowledge they need while also setting them free to imagine or create. Technology in the PBL classroom should help to answer the question, “What tools will students necessarily be asked to work with outside of school?” Questions like these help facilitate the shift in thinking toward letting student control some of the content in the classroom. It is possible that a technology-rich space, where multiple everyday technologies are laid next to each other, will empower PBL outcomes. (Ioannou, et al., 2016, p. 1027). Further, teachers at my school need to know how PBL might be applied so as not to complicate matters for the teachers. In fact, a major part of classroom management is attending to the needs of the teacher. The video addresses two common concerns of the teachers I work with : PBL creates a mess of activities that don’t feel focused, and the teacher feels out of control, or worthless since she isn’t “teaching”. However, the video stresses the importance of the art of the teacher as a guide and provides models of how the PBL might look. The teacher knows best which information to hand over to the technology while the so-called “drawbacks” of PBL are entrusted to the talented adult who manages the classroom.
Further, PBL encourages collaborative learning that is active, not simply “group-work” which is often passive for the learners who are not extroverted. The right balance of PBL and technology infusion requires a teacher’s artful instructional design to make sure that the right questions serve up challenging problems that students can learn to work through on their own. “One of the key benefits for Multimedia learning is that it can provide flexibility for the learner. Teachers at our school fear that PBL doesn’t focus enough on the skills we are required to teach. But the video models solutions for teaching skills while allowing students choice. Research is clear in an important way: problem-based learning helps students to meet and even exceed district standards (Ertmer). Teachers may need practice in becoming an effective facilitator of PBL, since the adoption of the learning method does invite some chaos. The fear of opening up too many possibilities for students is understandable. But this is where an LMS may help. A teacher greatly reduces the amount of wide-open space students are exposed to while also letting students pace themselves through content. The video facilitates the broader understanding of how technology may be used to monitor student learning in a PBL environment so as to encourage collaboration but also satisfy individual student skill progress. Digital tools and resources match with the best ideals of PBL: that students can self pace and satisfy their curiosity while also learning skills districts require (Deimann, p.4). Arguably, this flexibility may not be helpful to the learner who is overwhelmed by the organization of the multimedia environment, and so the video stresses the importance of the classroom teacher who knows her class and how to help them learn strategies for self-regulation (Ioannu, 2016). The video synthesizes current research and provides commentary that helps to facilitate a persuasive mindset shift for the classroom teacher at our school.
The video project pushed me into learning how to edit instructional videos. Of all the skills in the ITEC program, video creation and editing is my least favorite one to learn. So, producing this video allowed me to find an application I liked working with in order to produce the video as well, it allowed me to troubleshoot some of the features that weren’t as user-friendly. My struggle with learning the editing program paid off, though, since I was able to help students create their own videos for a similar project we did in my AP language classroom. I modeled a PBL unit that ended with a video like this one. I learned also that students of mine have a much more favorable outlook on video production than I do, and so to rob them of that opportunity because I am not myself comfortable with it would be a shame. When I create my next video, I will absolutely use a script that has been “tuned” for voice-over. Speaking an academic synthesis can get very boring, and so the next video I do will be adjusted to have auditory impact as well as textual and visual impact.
Immediately, I was able to share this video with my students I was teaching when I produced it. I wondered if they would be able to “write” an argument like this - one where they were encouraged to use digital content to supplement their own voice in a form of delivery that was interesting and inspiring. The format of the script, a chart with pictures on one side and the text on the other, taught them that digital content must be chosen wisely to support a thesis, that references ought to “talk” to one another, and that there has to be a focus to the argument. Above that, the listening audience must be led through the argument using vocal inflection that does not break for the insertion of textual evidence. So, this video helped me to directly model the use of digital tools to inspire my students toward a more authentic, personally engaging type of argument. Because my students were engaged in the Digital Argument project we did, I noticed almost no motivation problems and even witnessed some growth in critical thinking that I had not been able to witness in a classic essay. I shared my findings with my curriculum teams and encouraged them to try the unit.
References
Deimann, M. & Keller, J. (2006). Volitional Aspects of Multimedia Learning. Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia. 15 (2), pp. 137-158. Waynesville, NC USA: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE).
Ertmer, P.A., Glazewski, K.D., Jones, D., Ottenbreit-Leftwich, A., Goktas, Y., Collins, K. & Kocaman, A. (2009). Facilitating Technology-Enhanced Problem-based Learning (PBL) in the Middle School Classroom: An Examination of How and Why Teachers Adapt. Journal of Interactive Learning Research. 20 (1), pp. 35-54. Waynesville, NC: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE).
Ioannou, Andri & Vasiliou, Christina & Zaphiris, Panayiotis. (2016). Problem-Based Learning in Multimodal Learning Environments: Learners Technology Adoption Experiences. Journal of Educational Computing Research. 54. 10.1177/0735633116636755.