INTRODUCTION

How do you plan and design effective learning environments and experiences supported by technology?

I learned about a fantastic resource to introduce social diversity into my classroom in EDU 553. Roblyer (2006) introduced me to Epals. This is a secure, safe environment that takes the pen-pal model into the age of technology. Through using this tool my students have been able to befriend and email children from different races and/or cultures. We have Epals from Kansas and Denmark . It was particularly interesting when both groups exchanged pictures because my students realized that even though their Epals were white, and that some of them spoke English as a second language, they still had many commonalities with regard to the adolescent experience.

My class and their Kansas Epals even collaborated on a unit on a novel. Both classes had common assignments that their teachers agreed upon including; group work, blogging on essential questions, and book reviews. From this experience I learned that even though my student body does not reflect racial diversity, I can bring it into my classroom through introducing them to other cultures and races through technology.

As I mentioned in the previous paragraph, I have found web logs (blogs) and blogging to be an effective means to support a technology enhanced English curriculum. According to Millis (2006) technology enhances learning by increasing communication channels.  Blogs are an excellent means of increasing communication, and in addressing diversity in ability within and among my classes. Because all students participated to the best of their ability, they were able to draw on each others’ interpretations in developing their initial posts and responses. According to Millis (2006) technology enhances learning by increasing communication channels.

I learned in EDU 577 that blogs allow my students to upload their discussions into an electronic format using a simple template with a fixed format (Holmes & Gardner, 2006). I began blogging with my students last year with a unit on Edgar Allen Poe. I learned that by allowing different classes to collaborate through the medium of the blog students were able demonstrating critical thinking skills through collaboration and thoughtful responses to their peers. Additionally, the electronic format allowed them to view their peers’ posts in order to assist in developing their own interpretations (see Appendix D) for a sample of student work). I initiated the discussion, but the students truly made it their own. The student work shown in Appendix D illustrates the different ability levels and differing levels of critical thinking.

As my own experience with blogs grew I was able to assist other teachers in setting up blogs to enhance their own instructional practice. Additionally, I was asked to write a piece on the power of blogging, and its power with regard to cooperative learning, for my district’s web page (see Appendix E).

I learned more about cooperative learning through blogs in EDU 545 where I was asked to develop an Authoring Cycle with a partner, George Adams. In developing this curricular project we were able to incorporate and embed cooperative learning to enhance differentiation and thus address diversity in the ability levels of our students. The unit focused on “Choices” and we incorporated a blog into our learning activities in order to allow students to collaborate, reflect, and respond to others’ ideas.

Another unit that demonstrated an effective learning environment assisted by technology was on The Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. I applied many of the cognitive theories that I learned in EDU 511. By beginning the unit with an anticipation/reaction guide, I was able to establish students’ prior knowledge and viewpoints on the topic. Further, my students were able to activate schemata in order to build on what they already knew. The unit followed a constructivist project-based model that as Phlaum (2004) points out takes a lot of time. However, through using this model I was able to embed CMT reading and writing content strands in a unit that the students found meaningful. They were able to make connections to what they read, develop their own interpretations, and go through the entire writing and editing process.

Each student designed a web page on an important figure from the Civil Rights Movement. As they went through the process I asked guiding questions through a threaded discussion and as they wrote through the use of electronic shared folders. Feedback on student was very quick and effectively moved them to the next level of critical thinking. The initial lessons started out with factual and recall questions and evolved into questions that required students to take the information they had learned to develop their own interpretations and to determine if the person that they researched was indeed a hero, and what mark the person had left on the world (see Appendix F for a sample of student work). Through guidance my students were able to demonstrate evaluation skills which are the highest order of thinking in Bloom’s Taxonomy. Although Clabaugh (2002) might disagree, it is possible to provide “all kids with a more individualized […] style of schooling” (p. 7) without exorbitant expense if a teacher is creative and knowledgeable of both technology and individual students.

What research resources have supported these initiatives?

There is a wealth of information and research on collaborative learning through blogs. Distance Education Report (2004) posits that blogs serve to connect students to a peer network, and more importantly develop in students a sense of themselves as creators of knowledge. This aspect of blogs goes a long way towards empowering students to become invested in their own education. One note of caution as Abrami (2001) suggests is that “teachers, in particular, need to be able to help students develop skills and orientations to learning with technology which are appropriate for the curricular objectives and pedagogical models in place” (p. 4). In other words, technology on its own is not as effective in student learning as it is in the hands of a knowledgeable, effective teacher.

What I learned through the project-based unit on The Civil Rights Movement is much as Royal (2007) suggests “that knowledge is better understood when its application demonstrates a subject matter’s worth” (p.1). Further, that a “project-based learning approach, with enhanced teacher support that presents concepts using clear and frequently referred-to rubrics for assessing student performance, and constant reflection on concepts taught in each unit” Royal, 2007, p. 1) has been highly successful with at-risk kids.

Conclusion

Through using the tools I have developed in my own teaching experience along with what I have learned through my course work in Educational Technology at Eastern Connecticut State University , I have been able to enhance my students’ learning experiences through technology. My students have demonstrated that they can succeed in an environment that is diverse in regard to ability. They have also been able to bridge cultural barriers through email communications with students from different backgrounds. Further, they have collaborated with peers of all ability levels through blogging. Finally, they have been empowered to become creators of knowledge through both blogging and IT assisted project-based instruction. Technology, if used effectively, is a powerful tool for bringing kids to higher levels of thinking.