Final Reflection Blog Post

Part I: Come up with a research question related to how technology shapes learning in your classroom.  Collect data (e.g., student work, student survey, informal interviews) to answer your question. Write a response (min. 800 words) that answers the following questions:

• What is your research question and what inspired you to come up with that question?

In proposing my research question, I wanted to look at the similarities and differences between the accessibility to and feelings toward technology that my MAD academy students have in comparison to my non-MAD Academy students. The MAD Academy at SBHS is a special program that students apply to their freshmen year, that puts them in classes Sophomore through Senior year that focus on Multimedia Arts and Design.  My content class happens to be CP biology with all MAD Academy sophomores.  My other content period is a Freshmen FIRST Science elective class, with no MAD affiliation (but potentially could have some interest in joining next year).  My question was to see what the difference in comfort with and use of technology looked like between the two groups of students, and whether this Multimedia and Arts Design Academy was influencing their feelings towards technology.  I initially thought that it would be a clear distinction between the two groups, yet to my surprise, found that there were only slight differences.  Where I expected their to be drastic differences their weren't - and where I didn't expect it, there were. 

• How did you collect data?

In order to collect data, I took a survey in both of my content periods, MAD CP Biology and FIRST Science (with no-MAD affiliation). The survey consisted of 9 questions, with yes/no, multiple choice, or ranking questions: 

The number one question I received from my students in administering the survey was, "Do we have to put our names," in which I ensured the students that this was completely anonymous and they wouldn't need to write their names.  I really tried to stress that the be honest and answer truthfully, based on the 2nd biggest question I got which was, "What is this for?"  I explained to my students in both periods that I am currently a UCSB grad student and was collecting data for a paper I was writing for one of my classes - I tried not to mention it being a technology course, so that I ideally wouldn't influence their answers.  All of the students in class that day took the survey, and for the most part, I used percentages of students answering a particular question with a particular answer, because there were a different total number of students in each class.

• What did you discover while analyzing the data?

In asking the first four questions of the survey, I expected to see the results that I did - the MAD Academy students have more access to and familiarity with technology at home.  This was expected not only because of their interest in it (which is why they chose to be in the MAD Academy in the first place), but also because of the grade level, class level, and socio-economic statuses of the different students in the different classes.  For these reasons alone (which could be a whole other research question), I really asked these questions in the hopes of seeing a baseline of each class, and get a feel for their exposure to technology outside of what I see in school.  I was a little surprised to see, however, that almost equal percentages of students in each class have smart phones (and let me tell you, are on them all the time).  I expected more of the MAD academy students to have smart phones than I saw (i.e., more than 81%), but I also expected their percentage to be way higher than the FIRST class, which it wasn't (at 79%).  Just goes to show you the world these students are living in and the changes in technology we are seeing so quickly appear - for example, the percentage of students with smart phones in my sophomore biology class probably would've been about 30%, if that.  Now, it seems like everyone has one. 

When the student were asked to rank themselves on a scale of 1 to 10 at how comfortable they were with technology, 1 being not comfortable and 10 being a expert, I wasn't surprised to see that all of the MAD academy students ranked themselves as an 8 or above, and the majority ranked themselves as 10s.  I was surprised however, to see the number of students in the FIRST class who ranked themselves as 10s, especially with the range of answers there seemed to be in the other questions.  I thought it was a great result to see, however I really didn't expect it.  Out of 28 kids, 10 ranked themselves as 10s, and only 1 student ranked themselves below a 5 - that's a pretty good comfort level average for a non-technology focused group of students.  It really makes me wonder how my science class freshman year of high school would've compared?  My parents?  We're in a new age of technology that's making our students more familiar with it - or feel more familiar with it - than we even know. 

• How will the results influence your future use of technology as a learning tool?

In seeing these final responses I first can see that no matter the class (technology focus or not), our students are in a world in which they are constantly exposed to technology, and don't necessarily prefer to use it.  In the survey I included two questions that asked students to rank their preference of using devices vs. books in reading, and their preference in handwriting or typing, for papers/assignments.  I was really surprised with the results:

More students preferred typing than handwriting in my FIRST science class than they did in the MAD academy class, in which they are constantly using devices for design and projects.  In my MAD class results, I saw that more preferred reading from books than reading from devices, which surprised me for the same reason. These students are signed up, by choice for an academy in which they focus on media and design, yet they showed less interest in using devices in both cases.  This shows me that in my teaching, I have to be careful with the use and overuse of technology in my classroom.  Could it be that the students are exposed too much to technology that they don't prefer it anymore? Because they have it so available to them, maybe it's not what they prefer anymore.   Whereas in my FIRST science class, I saw that students preferred typing, it was comforting to see that they still preferred books over devices as a class.  This contradicts my theory that they 'want what they don't have,' however it is nice to know that they don't want to entirely get rid of all things not involving the internet.   I think that this is something to really keep in mind in my teaching - students preferences and how frequently we, as educators, should expose them to technology. 

Part II: Write a response that reflects on your experience as a student in ED 325 (min. 400 words). Answer the following questions:

• What did you learn from this class?

This class has been so helpfully to the development of my knowledge of technology, and has really opened my eyes to more application of technology that I can use in my classroom.  Honestly, the blog post has done so much for me, and is something I would really like to incorporate into my classroom.  In undergrad, I had an ecology class in which we were required to do one blog post throughout the quarter.  I thought this was really helpful, yet we didn't get enough exposure to it throughout the course that it didn't impact me the way this course did.  Writing weekly or bi-weekly blog posts allows you to take ownership of an idea and make it your own, express it in your own way, and 'expose' it to an audience, giving you some sort of reward.  Providing feedback to one another was also really helpful and engaging, and it really made me want to incorporate this sort of technology based learning in my classroom.  Sharing online articles, linking their blog posts to their Twitter accounts (which I hope to incorporate as well!).  This class was just able to open my eyes to many possibilities technology has to offer in the classroom. 

• How has your vision of technology in education changed?

Before this class, I could've told you that technology was growing at a fast rate, and that our students were becoming more and more familiar with technology, etc. Our classrooms are having large screen TVs, Apple TVs, etc. installed, and technology is much more commonly used in our school system.  My sister works for Apple, so I had heard about the huge LAUSD iPad purchase and the pros and cons that had come out of that... however, before this class, I never would've known about or felt the way I do about the appropriate, responsible, reasonable amount of technology used in our classrooms, and how crucial it is to limit yet provide time for its use.  When is the right time to utilize technology? Are we overusing it? Are we keeping up with the advances?  The day that really resonated with me the most was the day that we saw the video talking about technology and social media and the impact they're having on our world... Something similar to this: 

This idea of the world we live in today and the impact technology has on it - and the effect it has on our education system really gets me thinking about the effect it'll have 2 years, 5 years, 10 years from now!? If we're worried about our current data collections systems, for example, how soon will it be a problem that is out of our control?! Technology is such a scary thing - yet so exciting at the same time! I'm really excited to embrace this adventure and experiment with it in my classroom! 

Games in the Classroom

Describe and link to one game (video, computer, board game, app) that you would be interested in using in your classroom. How will this game be used to enhance learning and/or make learning easier for students? If the game is not educational (e.g., Angry Birds, Words with Friends), how would you adapt the game to fit within your curriculum?

CellCraft Biology Game is a great computer game to show not only the anatomy of a cell, but the physiological processes that go along with energy consumption and production within a cell.  As you start this game, you are required to consume ATP, to give your cell more energy to move around the petri dish.  Along the way, you have different goals and tasks to accomplish in order to keep your cell functioning.  Partway through the game, a nucleus and mitochondria are acquired to aid in energy production.  This screen shot show the screen of the game upon obtaining a nucleus, and beginning protein production.  The top left corner shows the amount of energy, or ATP that my cell currently has. 

If you look in the upper right hand corner, you can see that the objective is to make more ribosomes.   Throughout the game there are objectives such as acquire ribosomes, glucose molecules, or ATP as you travel around the dish. The ribosome pictured enables the cell to continue protein production after the addition of the nucleus containing DNA. 

I think this game is a great learning tool for the classroom because it enables students to explore the anatomy and physiology of the cell, all the while completing tasks, goals and objectives along the way - which keeps there interest.  This game allows them to 'compete' and keep their cell alive, while teaching them very important anatomical and physiological processes.  I would consider using this game in my classroom while student were learning the anatomy and function of organelles within a cell.  There would be a risk in that computer time can promote off-task behavior, but I'd hope that allowing them to play this 'game' would keep their engagement and ideally help them in understanding the processes of a cell.