Tag: week14

Week 14 – Annotation 2 – Creating technology-enhanced, learner-centered classrooms: K-12 teachers beliefs, perceptions, barriers, and support needs.

A.M. Ternullo

An, Y. J., & Reigeluth, C. (2011). Creating technology-enhanced, learner-centered classrooms: K–12 teachers’ beliefs, perceptions, barriers, and support needs. Journal of Digital Learning in Teacher Education, 28(2), 54-62.

            An and Reighluth (2011) conducted a survey-based exploratory study to learn about teacher perceptions, barriers, and support needed to create technology-enhanced classrooms. An et al. provide a literature review that defines the learner-center classroom space, personalized and customized learning, self-regulated learning, collaborative and authentic learning experiences, and technology integration. An et al. draw from the current-at-the-time research to develop a theoretical underpinning of technology use in the classroom. The study focuses on five elements related to K -12 teachers: beliefs and attitudes toward using technology in teaching and learning, perception of learner-centered instruction, perception of barriers to implementing technology and learner-centered classrooms, perceptions effective professional development and how to improve professional development, and teacher support needs. An et al. conducted a survey developed from their literature review and added additional Likert scale questions. The survey had a response rate of 32%. The results showed that teachers believed technology was important to teaching, they supported use of classroom technology, learned new technologies, and believed it was part of their job as teachers to learn new technology to implement in the classroom. Teachers positively viewed learner-centered instruction, but found it both challenging and rewarding. Most teachers perceived they provided personalized learning to their students. Most teachers did not perceive that their own personal attitudes were a barrier to implementing learner-centered instruction or technology. Teachers found two weaknesses in professional development: they were not specific enough and contain too much information in too short a time frame. Teachers want improved professional development sessions that given them hands on support, learner-centered environments, and specificity. An et al. also acknowledge the systems teachers want in place cannot exist without support from the systems teachers work in. The end with a suggestion or further research to test the generalizability of the findings of this study.

            An et al. organize their study very well. The problem was clearly articulated up front. The conceptual framework led directly to the five facets of research presented. The methodology was clearly described. They provided relevant citations to support their work, which was current. The research was presented in a very clear and organized fashion that was easily accessible to the reader. The concepts were all clearly operationalized and defined so that a scholar unfamiliar with all of the concepts were easily accessible. The results tied back to the literature review, and appropriate studies were cited to support the findings. The discussion led to other opportunities for research.

            As a doctoral student, this article serves as a good model for organizing a paper. I enjoyed reading a study that was well organized and where all the parts were easily identifiable. I did not have to do a lot of work to understand the concepts presented because the authors clearly defined terms that needed to be defined and provided adequate supporting research. This is something I think about as I write my own papers – being clear in the patterns and ideas I see and clearly articulating those ideas for an audience who may read my work. The development of the instrument was discussed and that is also important so we can understand what is being measured is accurately represented. The results and discussion also made clear connections back to the literature review.

            As an administrator and a teacher, I found the discussion about teacher perceptions of professional developments. I share the same sentiments that most professional development is too long, too broad, and a reflection of what someone else thinks I should know as a professional rather than what I need to know. It’s a good reminder to ask the people who need the professional development what they need instead of thinking I know, even though I teach, too.

Week 14 Annotation 1 – OMMI: Offline multimodal instruction.

A.M. Ternullo

Dirkin, K., Hain, A., Tolin, M. & McBride, A. (2020). OMMI: Offline MultiModal Instruction. In E. Langran (Ed.), Proceedings of SITE Interactive 2020 Online Conference (pp. 24-28). Online: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE).

            In this conference proposal, Dirkin et al. (2020) present a model of offline multi-modal instruction (OMMI) to address the digital divide made evidence during the acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. Dirkin et al. situate their instructional model in the context of datacasting, and provide an overview of the process. Data is securely transmitted one way by antenna to students so they can complete their learning. OMMI requires three separate elements to be successfully implemented: an anchor document, creative repurposing of software, and assessment that is performance-based. Anchor documents are students’ “home base” that give them the roadmap to success, and includes links to all elements students will need to study. Creative repurposing of software means using things like Word or PowerPoint to “mimic the interactivity of a website” by embedding videos and hyperlinking slides together. This provides students with an organized learning experience. Balanced assessment should be used because students may not have access to instant feedback from the instructor so formative and self-assessments need to be used to help facilitate learning. It is also important, given that students in the acute phase of the pandemic were under the care of parents who could not provide necessary levels of assistance to complete learning tasks, that students be given choices and scaffolded projects that were broken down in to small and workable phases. While Dirken et al. recognize it was best for learners to have access to the Internet, OMMI was the next best thing to help students not fall behind. The OMMI model replicates as best as possible the interactivity and interconnectivity of the Internet.

            Dirkin et al. organize their proposal very well. There is an immediate statement of the problem, followed by a contextualization in the literature and emergency of the COVID-19 remote learning environment. Dirken et al. ground their three-pronged approach in research and clearly define their operationalized terms to outline their argument. While conference proposals and proceedings are limited by nature, and cannot be fully developed due to space, the argument and support in the literature were very clearly articulated.

            As an administrator who had to navigate and survive the shift from a mostly on campus learning experience for learners to an all online experience, this work is interesting to me. While I do not work on a campus that largely did not have access to internet during learning, there were many challenges to the instantaneous pivot to remote learning that occurred in March 2020. For over a year, we had to find creative solutions to help learners where they were – particularly in hands-on disciplines like art and music, which I oversaw at the time. While this specific model OMMI is not directly applicable to my situation, the idea of the anchor document would have been extremely helpful in navigating learning in situations where a lot of learning was asynchronous. If I put on my writing instructor hat, I can see the benefit of preparing lessons and teaching opportunities, even as we have returned to “normal” – whatever that is – through an anchor document and creating interactive, non-Internet based resources to support learning for students who may not always be available to work online in the LMS.