Technology in the Classroom - Report Example

Technology in the room (Go al Affiliation Learning contract template – e-Learning Technologies Draft Contract Professional context Choose a career or role in a specific context (e.g. Coordinator of distance learning in an organisation; manager of school LMS etc.) I am the Head teacher in one of the secondary schools in Saudi Arabia. My role is to assist teachers learn new methods and technologies in order to make lessons more effective, easier than before. Through research in the use of smart devices in the classroom in the Education, I found (GoClass) technology. My vision is to use this technology in our schools. The reasons behind this vision is that for nearly 8 years The Ministry of education has adopted a continuous assessment system for students in Saudi schools. Overtime, the system was applied in all the subjects hence, it replaced the quarterly tests. This system has, however, faced challenges such as the huge gap between the number of students in the classroom, time limitations and content. This has further created problems such as: 1. Inability to control the classroom or improve classroom management using new methods. 2. Inability to correctly assess the students. Using this system, therefore, it is not possible to conduct credible assessment of students due to the large number of students, the curriculum and the class time. These challenges have prompted me to research on a design or a smart technological tool such as (GoClass) that can be used to help the teachers access all the students’ information, hence maintaining control and carrying out credible assessments. Current technology skills and knowledge Strengths and weaknesses to carry out this role Strengths: - I have prior experience of 10 years in the secondary schools teaching. During this time, I organised many face to face training sessions/courses for trainers. In addition, I am quite familiar with the Saudi Arabian education system and hence sure that this technology can benefit the learners. - I have experience and skills in working with Microsoft software, electronic laboratory, video and audio. - Capacities of using smart board and technology (Overhead projector among other technologies) - Knowledge gained from last semester subjects( e-learning experience 1 and 2) Weaknesses/Obstacles - Inadequate expertise to use the software on smart devices. - Limited knowledge on integration of pedagogy and practice. - inability to motivate the teachers to use new technologies in their schools - No engagement with app development software for smart devices. Consultation and research strategies to determine required new skills Who will you consult, what research and resources do you need to identify and acquire? 1- I intend to use Google scholar to carry out my research concerning new e-learning methods in other educational contexts and cases. 2- I will make use of the UTS library resources on the e-technology subject matter. 3- Research on Resources used through e-resources such as: Academic course reading; journal articles, video and audio, YouTube (e.g. How to use GoClass in classroom) Also Social media (Facebook & twitter): Follow up experts using authentic technologies (e.g. IPads, tablets, iPhone, eBeam etc.) in the classroom 4- I will explore a number of relevant blogs and publications in order to familiarize myself with some of the best e-technology examples. Action plan: learning objectives and specific technology to be learned Identify the technology you will use, and how you will acquire the skills and knowledge you require to confidently implement it. Learning objectives: - To provide a comprehensive definition of GoClass. - To determine new ways of learning and teaching by using new technology. - To evaluate the effectiveness of this tool for e-learning Strategies: 1- Research and follow-up lessons on YouTube or courses in MOOCs to demonstrate the value and the features of this technology (GoClass) for teachers and student so that I can show my staff how to use it and convince them that it is a useful tool. To make it collaborative and engaging tool too. 2- Interactions with colleagues and other professionals to get equipped with the relevant technological skills. 3- After going through the demonstrations and other instructions, I will test the product using an iPad or other tablet devices. 4- Other skills will be acquired through online learning resources, tutorials and expert information in technological fields. Criteria for assessment How will your achievement of this learning contract be assessed? What will you submit for assessment? What criteria will be used to assess and grade it? This will depend on the nature of the task you set yourself but should be specific enough for the lecturer to be able to judge if you have met your learning objectives By the end of this contract I want to complete •Degree of planning of the activity (Learning Contract). •Range of resources. •Depth of understanding of the project. • What the effect of the use of technology in education for teachers and students? • What is the idea of using (GoClass) to the teachers and students? • What is the benefit of using this technology for teachers and students? Resources 1. The Education Arcade. (2009). Using the Technology of Today, in the Classroom Today. The Education Arcade 10, 09. This article stresses on the importance and safety of new technologies and their inclusion in classroom learning. The author therefore insist that schools should take the issue of integrating technology in class seriously. 2. Boles, S. R. (2011). Using Technology in the Classroom. Science Scope, 34, 39–43. This article describes the use of technology in the classroom. It is a teacher’s real experience reflection on how she has used technology in various topics with success. 3. Chen, F. H., Looi, C. K., & Chen, W. (2009). Integrating technology in the classroom: A visual conceptualization of teachers’ knowledge, goals and beliefs. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 25, 470–488. This paper gives a diagrammatic conceptualization of the complex interplay between teachers’ knowledge, beliefs and goals in integrating technology effectively in the classroom. 4. Richard Byrne. Use GoClass to Create and Deliver Lessons Through iPads. The article gives more information concerning the application and its usage in a classroom setup. 5. Aldunate, R., & Nussbaum, M. (2013). Teacher adoption of technology. Computers in Human Behavior, 29, 519–524. The article describes the adoption of technology in teaching as a process with dynamic transitions between costs and benefits. Nonetheless, the benefits are more. Technology in the Classroom (GoClass) Introduction The current status of education and teaching worldwide is changing. Different from the previous years when technology was regarded as a distinct entity from education, the current education system in many parts of the world have adopted and embraced technology. The benefit of technology in the classroom cannot be overstated. According to educators, the use of technology does not only make the work of teaching natural but also ensures that various levels of students’ intelligence is utilized and activated (Aldunate & Nussbaum, 2013). Besides breaking the monopoly, the technology increases retention levels and keeps the students in touch with the real life. Critiquing the previous worry among the educators, The Education Arcade clarifies that using technology in teaching is both important and safe (Garcia & Bray, 1997). According Engelbrecht (2003), e-learning technologies provides many benefits to educators and school administrators. Among these benefits is the fact that knowledge development in the digital era engages both the learners and teachers. The digital applications allow them to participate in the authentic contexts of the subject under study. Secondly, the use of information computer technology in education enhances the quality of learning environment as well as increasing the relative access to educational material in and outside the scope of the course. Thirdly, the use of technology increases the flexibility of studying. The flexibility is important for the students, teachers and the administrators in terms of cost and time economy (Engelbrecht, 2003). Following this realisation, I decided to focus my research on the use of GoClass, a new smart application that provides an e-learning platform that is compatible with hand devices such as smartphones and tablets. The application uses common mobile internet connections and can, therefore, be used to improve the general outlook of the classroom as well as students engagement in the teaching and learning activities (Chen, Looi, & Chen, 2009). Aligning learning needs to objectives of the research. Having been a head teacher for the last ten years, and with the expected role of providing guidance not only to students but also to the teachers under me, it is my vision to provide guidance that will effectively enhance learning. With that in mind, I find a platform that increases the interaction between the learners and the teachers more effective. For the education system developed by the ministry of education to achieve its mandate and mission, and avoid the challenges facing it, technological application that can be used to help the teachers access all the students’ information, hence maintaining control and carrying out credible assessments. Is necessary. The aim of this contract is therefore to obtain the Goclass application and train the teachers on its use. This will lead to a determination of the new ways through which technology can be integrated with learning and teaching as well as helping in the evaluation of the effectiveness of the technology in the process. Resources and strategies The success of any project depends on the resources that are put in place, and the strategies that the project teams employs in the utilization of those resources. For this research, a variety of online resources such as academic course reading, journal articles, video and audio on the use of GoClass technology in the classroom, and social media (facebook & twitter) will be utilised. Experts’ reviews on the issues associated with the use of the application in the hand-held devices will also be analysed in details. An analysis of the research information will leads to the development of a program that will be used to train the teachers on the basic use of the technology in teaching and allow them to practice this in their classrooms. The monitoring of the use and implementation will be done through thorough surveys using data obtained from the stakeholders, the teachers, administrators and students. The application GoClass is a digital learning and teaching platform that has been designed to be compatible with the mobile devices in the classroom. The technology allows students to make use of the various GoClass services and features on smartphones, ipads and tablet devices. The application uses a lesson plan metaphor to organize figures, documents, visual audios, websites, original teacher notes and assessments into a structured series of lesson plan elements. Teachers who have the application on their devices can share these elements of the application with their class by broadcasting them to connected students devices. The application also allows the teacher to access online information and illustrations that can be projected on a screen or an LCD projector for the class to see. However, since the application considers the projector and the student device as two independent content sharing channels the teacher has absolute control over what is shared on each of them. On the issue of classroom management, the application comes with features that readily inform the teacher about student attention, participation and engagement. Inline assessments and evaluations provide immediate feedback on student performance to the teacher. This makes the application a great asset even to the education administrators. Moreover, GoClass is very beneficial for teachers to use it as a supplement teaching materials in online and digital learning settings. Students benefit from more access to online databases and online resources, which provides more learning and teaching materials online and thus assists learners to student independently. Using the favourite option, the offers the students with an opportunity to “favourite” items and elements that the teacher shares with them. The teacher thus has a clue on the topics and the elements that the students consider as relevant or important in the lesson. With such a feedback, the teacher as well as the education administrators can evaluate the teaching exercise and make possible changes. The idea of using GoClass for students and teachers The use of GoClass has been found to provide a wide range of benefits. The application makes it easy for the teacher to build, edit and manage the lessons. This is possible in the Show-Explain-Ask framework provided by the application. In this framework, the teacher infuses the media supports and teaching resources such as the images and audio-visuals necessary for the lesson. These accompany the notes shared with the students and real-time assessments for feedback. The process of creating a GoClass Figure 1 a) Figure 1 b) Figure 1 c) Figure 2. Lesson planning with GoClass Project follow-up and report writing is also possible with GoClass. Videos and images taken from the field, documents, questionnaires and real-time annotations can be shared in the application with concerned members and project progress tracked. Projection of these files is also possible by connecting with a laptop and using an overhead projector or screen. When it comes to content sharing, the application allows the teacher to broadcast data in the form of images, videos and audio files directly to the students’ devices from the teacher’s or the projection device. This allows multiple and closer viewing of content by the students on their screens. Classroom Evaluation The effectiveness of any learning activity requires that the teacher obtains adequate feedback of the students understanding and engagement. Besides giving the teacher real-time students’ attention information, the application also helps the teacher to give an assessment to the students at any point of the lesson. The assessment feature conducts formative assessments and provides real-time feedback on student and class comprehension. This allows the teacher to alter lesson plans and effectively address knowledge gaps and any misconceptions. It is also possible to take a poll to gauge student opinions or reactions. To increase the authenticity in the learning experience, the application also allows the teacher to scribble on a virtual chalkboard and emphasize points or illustrate important sections of an image. This scribbling is shared with the students on their individual devices Figure 2. Providing Assessments with GoClass Getting Started With Goclass GoClass is a digital application. The implication of this is that the application must first be downloaded onto the device on which is going to be used and installed. After installation, then user is required to create an account to start using the application. When an account is created, the application allows the user to specify whether it is a student or an instructors’ account. Although little difference is there between the two, the tutor can connect with many users who are identified as his or her class. Further, the instructor can obtain feedback from those identified as his or her students in cases of assessments of polls (Rudolph et al, 2009). When an account is created, the application sends an email to the user with the log-in details. These are the details that the user, being a teacher or student uses to log into his or her personal account. With this account, the instructor can add students to a class roster. On this command, the students will receive emails with their accounts details. To add a lesson, the lesson author (teacher) leverage the required media resources with the option “show” on the front interface. To include lecture notes in the lesson, the teacher uses the option ‘Explain.” To incorporate a question or assessment in the lesson, the option “Ask” is used. The lesson can be saved for future sessions. The instructor can also use the application to conduct a classroom session. For this, the teacher and the students use different devices to access to the lesson content. The teacher can directly share lesson materials on the devices of by projection. Scribbling and annotation allow better understanding and attention. Instant polls and assessments provide the teacher with adequate feedback (Richard Byrne). In addition to these features, the GoClass application provides the teacher with an opportunity to keep reports and logs even for a large class. He or she can also review, create and modify lesson plans registers and roster depending on the changes in the class size. The application, therefore, helps to bridge the shortage of instructors in the education sector (Rudolph et al, 2009). However, one shortcoming associated with the adoption of this application is that the cost of purchasing the gadgets for all the students is enormous. Besides, expecting that all the students in the classroom will afford the devices is a far-fetched assumption. The implication of this is that some students will have limited access to the lesson content and this created disparities and divisions in education (Hougland, & Zafar, 2001). Determining the effectiveness The effectiveness of this application will be assessed using the feedback tools available. By conducting a survey among the users of the application, firsthand information will be accessible to determine if the application is serving its intended purpose among the teachers and the students (Boles, 2011). The effectiveness will also be assessed from the perspective of the educators and the education system. The time taken to cover the lesson content will be evaluated and compared with the time it would have taken the traditional classroom to cover the same content. Further, the economic value associated with the use of the application will be determined through analysis of the use of resources before and after the adoption of the application. Conclusion The technological development being experienced in the world is bringing about changes in almost everything. The old perceptions and views of technology as incompatible with education are slowly passing. Currently, effective education system is that which is in contact with technology and compatible with the new developments that are making human life easier (Orlikowski, 2000). The use of GoClass application does exactly that. Incorporating it I the classroom teaching and instruction not only make learning easy, but also increases the effectiveness of teaching and classroom management. From this research, the application GoClass plays a significant role in persuading and encouraging students to participate fully in the learning activities. The application increases the students’ interest in learning by incorporating technology, which interest them, to learning. Resources Aldunate, R., & Nussbaum, M. (2013). Teacher adoption of technology. Computers in Human Behavior, 29, 519–524. Boles, S. R. (2011). Using Technology in the Classroom. Science Scope, 34, 39–43. Chen, F. H., Looi, C. K., & Chen, W. (2009). Integrating technology in the classroom: A visual conceptualization of teachers’ knowledge, goals and beliefs. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 25, 470–488. Engelbrecht, E. (2003). A look at e-learning models: investigating their value for developing an e-learning strategy, Progressio, vol. 25, no.2, pp. 38-47. Garcia, M. L., & Bray, O. H. (1997). Fundamentals of Technology Roadmapping. Distribution, 4205, 34. Hougland, D., & Zafar, K. (2001). Essential WAP for Web professionals. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall PTR. Orlikowski, W. J. (2000). Using Technology and Constituting Structures: A Practice Lens for Studying Technology in Organizations. Organization Science. Richard Byrne. Use GoClass to Create and Deliver Lessons Through iPads. http://ipadapps4school.com/2013/02/14/use-goclass-to-create-and-deliver-lessons-through-ipads/ Rudolph, S., Dau, F., Kuznetsov, S. O., & International Conference on Conceptual Structures, ICCS. (2009). Conceptual structures: Leveraging semantic technologies : 17th International Conference on Conceptual Structures, ICCS 2009, Moscow, Russia, July 26-31, 2009 : proceedings. Berlin [etc.: Springer. The Education Arcade. (2009). Using the Technology of Today, in the Classroom Today. The Education Arcade 10, 09. Read More