Hurt+Pamela

Deliverable 3: Creating a Proposal for Implementation: FLEXBOOKS

Because of the backbreaking English texts my students carry (and complain about all the time!), and because of the lack of a suitable text for an SAT Prep course I teach, my proposal to administration focuses on using Flexbooks as a useful, economical, student-friendly text, particularly for SAT. While some drawbacks do exist – which I outline below, I still see Flexbooks as a valuable source to consider ASAP!

Description of Technology: Flexbooks enable teachers to formulate useable and inexpensive (free if not printed!) texts based on district and student needs. These online based resources give teachers the opportunity to use and modify online information, minimizing text cost while providing flexible and current materials.

Service to create with this software: I would use Flexbooks to develop a text for the quarter-length SAT Prep course I team-teach with a math instructor. We have not found a suitable text, so each quarter, I run off reams of paper as we review vocabulary, strategies, and take practice and post-tests for each portion of the SAT. Flexbooks would facilitate this course and, I think, engage students’ interest & success with laptops and a Promethean Board available. The course could also be very responsive to students’ needs since individuals could choose to print materials they desired.

Plan’s Need and Research Base: Since SAT Prep is a required course for all juniors, adapting the present course to become online based will benefit the district’s budget, facilitate student engagement, and advance student achievement. Staff and students benefit as indicated by research we’ve investigated during this course: Information Literacy Standards; National Academy of Sciences 2006 Workshop (Reconsidering the Textbook), commentary by Paul Bierman, Center for Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning, as well as examples from blogs, wikis and podcasts (EDC921).

Evidence that This Technology is Useful:

http://www.CK12.org/ Non-profit group that offers teachers the ability to download and modify free online textbook chapters of units in math and science http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2008-07-09-open-textbooks_N.htm Presents research data that supports the belief that “Open textbooks can change the way textbooks are used, produced and sold” (Nicole Allen, director of the Make Textbooks Affordable campaign by Student Public Interest Research Groups).

http://www.maketextbooksaffordable.org/statement.asp?id2=37614 At this site, college instructors sign a statement that supporting online textbooks for their limited costs and flexibility. Numerous adherents as well as examples, links, and downloads. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/25/opinion/25fri4.html?ex=1366862400&en=845444868bcf03e9&ei=5 This article states that “A study being carried out by the geographer Ronald Dorn at Arizona State University suggests that students who use free online textbooks perform as well academically as students who buy expensive copies from traditional publishers.”

Roadblocks to Implementing This Technology and Resolutions: This relatively new non-profit organization only provides chapters for online texts in math and sciences! Dave indicated that he, also, did not know yet of any sources for online text opportunities for SAT. I found Adobe Flex Books, training books limited to work with this technology.

Another district concern may arise over issues of such new technology. As KAZ librarian pointed out, copyright issues and using Wikipedia may deter acceptance. Commentary on the web may also raise problems: for example, the San Diego Tribune, http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/ education/20071007-9999-1m7online.html, relates concerns that arise re student access to digital texts. Can teachers and administrators be assured that all students have online access? (This semester, I was surprised to find that in two classes totaling 45 students, that two don’t have access to computers). These and other such potential problems would arise and need to be addressed, but using current research and looking into developing possibilities, coordinating efforts would help. Later, when information in SAT practice becomes available with Flexbooks, I would hope to develop mine at http://www.CK12.org/.

In lieu of creating an online text, since no sites are currently available, I could turn to: http://www.testprepreview.com/sat_practice.htm, SAT Online Course http://www.4tests.com/exams/examdetail.asp?eid=6, 4 Tests.com http://www.majortests.com/sat/. Major Tests.com http://www.collegeboard.com/student/testing/sat/prep_one/prep_one.html or https://satonlinecourse.collegeboard.com/SR/digital_assets/assessment/pdf/0833A611-0A43-10C2-0148-CC8, portions of the CollegeBoard site.

For the Future? I hope that using Flexbooks would engage my students, promote achievement, provide current information, facilitate instruction, and lesson costs. Definitely a win-win experience! I am hopeful that Flexbooks (or some other source) will expand their online textbook offerings and enable me to use this technology to enhance the educational process and environment for the district, students, and teachers.

Deliverable 2: Integrating an Edublog into an Existing Lesson Plan or Environment

How I plan to use my blog: I plan to use my blog as an integral component of my 9th grade unit on J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye. The novel always raises a lot of questions and blogging is a superb tool to encourage student reflection and interaction. I have already used blogging with this novel (see Honors Communication 9 as a link in FHS Chats). Because of this course and EDC 920, another course I’m taking with Dave, I’ve become acquainted with some other tools which will not only engage my students’ study of this novel, but will also help them to grasp the impact of setting and its significance in developing and revealing a character in a literary work.

In my previous experiences in using blogs with my students, I have focused primarily on students’ attention to directions, requiring them to demonstrate their understanding and insight, to dialogue, and to use appropriate expression. In monitoring students’ comments, I have reminded them to justify their ideas by referring to text, and to avoid repetition of peers’ comments. Suggesting that blogging can be likened to an online conversation, I’ve posted exploratory comments and basically stayed in the background as I wanted students to “wrestle” with topics and each others’ views.

At times, as I reviewed students’ tendency towards repetitive and somewhat monotonous commentary, I recall feeling frustrated since knowing these young people, I realized their exchange should be anything but dull! Through EDC 921, I’m rethinking my “passive involvement” as well as the need to add sparkle to entice students’ creative and critical thinking. Thus, related links to videos, visuals, other media, and, hopefully, involvement of adults – parents, teachers, and administrators – as well as obligating students to surf the web (an integral part of my assignment) should help to maximize educational benefits of this blog-infused lesson, deepening learning and interest in this assignment.

Since I can post information and links to assignments on my school’s classroom website, informing parents about the blog will not be difficult. Furthermore, since many adults have read Catcher and / or visited NYC, I’m hoping they’ll be willing to take part in our adventure. For faculty & administrators, I can send a mass email with a link to my blog (and perhaps include an added incentive – providing munchies at our next in-service!).

Potential trials, tests, missteps of this integration: While my students are digital natives, from experience, I realize that some will need more guidance than others to fulfill the goals and demands of this lesson. I hope to avoid too many glitches by providing clear instruction, models, and cooperative learning opportunities as the project opens and develops. On a related note, at school, other teachers’ plans may impose limits on my use of computers since I currently must borrow laptops from other teachers (but will be receiving my own at some point this year). Infrequently, system issues could raise further concerns. Still, the “equipment” issue should be minimized as much of this assignment will be undertaken at home and responded to on the blog, as well as discussed / visualized at school.

Another issue relates to the availability, quality, and transient nature of postings on the web. Students will be expected to choose and support reliable interpretations incorporating web information and the text. Clearly, meshing the two formats can be challenging.

I believe that I can garner support from some parents and teachers, too. Although these adults with their many obligations may not all readily take part in this opportunity, I am hopeful that the students and I can entice some to participate. Again, a few adults may be apprehensive about using such technology…but I’m hopeful that encouragement from the students and me will persuade them to participate.

Potential success of the integration: Incorporating this blog into our study of The Catcher in the Rye offers many benefits. This lesson / blog experience clearly should extend students’ understanding of character and setting in the novel. Because the assignments weave literature, technology, composition, and discussion components, students will be meeting many of the objectives of my discipline; furthermore, the lesson appeals to a variety of learning styles, maximizing instruction.

Additionally, by extending this unit to include commentary from adults, our exchange will certainly be enriched. The intergenerational dialogue will benefit both groups: students will recognize that their parents, teachers, and administrators have been impacted by this novel, that they care to take part in the dialogue, and that their experiences help to make meaning from the novel. Adults will, I hope, see the young people’s versatility in using technology and its value (necessity!) in education.

Future goals: As I continue to increase my facility in using technology, I hope to offer more opportunities to incorporate technology into my instruction. My students’ world has always been “wrapped up” in technology; thus, to meet their needs, I must connect with this perspective. I need to continue to explore and extend technologies to make learning authentic and meaningful if I hope to engage my students and lead them to become creative and critical thinkers.

Furthermore, I want my students to recognize that using technology is understood as a meaningful and necessary component of their workload. From research, to preparation, to presentation, to reflection, technological expertise can no longer be regarded as a nice “add-on”…it’s a necessity! To be good communicators, they must take advantage of the technological tools available, recognizing that the opportunities are continually expanding. As a result, I hope that students realize and respond to the reality that education never really ends…in fact, they’ve just begun!

Additionally, while using technology as an integral part of this lesson / blog, I will certainly be enhancing my students’ proficiency in literary analysis and composition…a primary concern as an English teacher. I am hoping that the impact of this lesson will deepen the students’ interpretive foundation, underscoring the function and relationship of varying components of character development and setting relative to a novel’s development.