Design Experiment #3

Khan Academy

When I looked at what this website had to offer I found it extremely lacking for the subject that I teach.  I teach US History (1877-Present), which is a STAAR tested subject in high school.  So I have to be very careful about the content that I show my students because the content needs to reflect the ability to pass the state test.  This is the unfortunate truth of the matter.  So when I first looked into the website I thought it was going to look very promising for turning my classroom into a flipped classroom.  When I finally found Social Studies, particularly history, I was very disappointed. The problem with the site is that it presents all of US History, which does not benefit my students at all.  Since we do not cover any topics prior to 1877.  However, the one saving grace about Khan Academy is the fact that I can choose the subjects that can be shown.  When I went to look at the subject "The Gilded Age", the problem that I found is that it did not talk about any of the TEKS that we had to follow for US History.  Even though I could not use this in a regular classroom, because it would not benefit my students I could use this in my dual credit class.  Since I have to go through all of US History and since I do not have specific TEKS to follow I could use them as a way to preview the content that we will discuss in class or as a review tool for them.  The videos are well laid out and are great for those students that operate under a higher learning standard.  

If I do use these as a preview then the students can watch and read overviews of the information.  The only problem with the overviews, is that they would be great for a online class discussion but they have to see what others have answered so it would not be strictly my class seeing what others have done.  However, since I would be mainly using this for a strictly content/review basis then ultimately what this would allow me to do more of is student-centered work in the classroom.  I would have them collaborate on analyzing primary source materials, and they could also collaborate in project based learning as well.  It would free me up to do alot more in the classroom.  So overall, for regular students Khan Academy social studies doesn't work well, but for higher education it would work for those students.

Online Content with Textbook

I did not find much on MIT Open Courseware that I could use for regular students, since I found something that will work for my dual credit students I wanted to find something for my regular students to use as well.  So I decided to look at the online content of the textbook that we use in my district.  I did find that there were some content that would be useful for students in the classroom, but it lacked in the area of content.  The videos would be good for a flipped classroom setting but none of the videos really discussed the topic, they were mainly hooks to draw a student into the content you would discuss in class.  They were strange off the wall videos and some of them lacked that engaging feeling to keep students attention.  I did find some activities, but many of the activities were something that you would do in class and then as a group discuss them.  So I came to the conclusion that I would do the activities, as a collaborative piece in the classroom.  Then as a whole group use them as a student-led class discussion.  

Edmodo

Introduction

When I started teaching I was first taught how to use Edmodo as a course management device.  I have however, changed what I use for my CMS.  For this weeks design I decided to compare Edmodo with Google Classroom.

Edmodo

This CMS has come a long way since I used it several years ago. When I first used Edmodo it was nothing more than a social media page for educators to try and get students more engaged in the classroom. Now it is more of a CMS system like Blackboard or Google Classroom. The best part of the CMS system is that it is very user friendly, as long as your on the computer. When I tried to use the app to look at what they have changed with this CMS, the app kept crashing. I think this is the number one aspect that you need to look for when deciding what systems to use in your classroom. If your students are having a hard time accessing it to do their assignments, it means more work for you to ensure their success.

However, even though there are still some problems with Edmodo you can still use it to send work to the students, and then have them resubmit it back to you. An improvement to the system is that when you attach an assignment to complete each student gets their own individual assignment. In the past you sent one assignment to all students who had to then download and resubmit, the way it is described now this is not the case. So it does make organization and submitting assignment easier. Another good feature of Edmodo is the fact that you can create quizzes, that are self grading. The only thing that it doesn't grade is short answer questions, you as the instructor will have to grade those. 

The one short coming that I think this application does not allow much of is the allowance to have a discussion board. It seems that if you want to have a discussion board you will have to go to an outside system and post the link to Edmodo.

Google Classroom

Recently, I have been using Google Classroom as my Course Management System. At first I was not sold on its true merits and there is a part of me that still believes their can been improvements or something better to work with.  However, I do believe their are more benefits to Google Classroom than there are on Edmodo.

Just like Edmodo, each students gets a copy of the assignments that you put on to Edmodo.  It works well with google programs, because it is a google product.  What is really good about this product is that if you want the students to click through a PowerPoint, you can do this without having to turn it into a PDF file.  If you use Google slides students can click through the PowerPoint, and what is good about this is you can set it to where they can only view the slide.  If you want to add videos, it allows you to import from YouTube.  While Edmodo does this you have to turn it into a PDF and then you have to upload the video link separate.  Google Classroom allows you to put it as one assignment, for which their can be multiple activities or information in one assignment.

One feature that is similar to that of Edmodo is that you can have open communication with students, in which all students can see questions students ask or announcements that you may put on the home page.  This is a good thing to have so that all students, see questions that students might have.  One thing that Google Classroom has over Edmodo, is the ability to block certain students from comments.  I had a student this last year, who would post random comments that had nothing to do with school related business.  I asked him about this and he said he thought it was like social media, I warned him he would loose communication privileges.  He did it again, and Google Classroom allowed me to mute his comments and delete his comments.  So it allows you to keep all comments educational.  This application within Google Classroom, would allow for something else that Edmodo does not do a decedent  job at and that is facilitate a class discussion.

The last feature that I am going to discuss that is better than Edmodo is the categories application in Google Classroom.  This part Edmodo doesn't do so if you want to find something you have scroll through all the posts to find it.  In Google Classroom, all students or you have to do is click on the categories you have already set up and click and any post that you set up to go with that category will appear.  This allows for easier access to assignments, quizzes, or other activities that you wish your students to work on.

Conclusion

Ultimately the pedagogy behind Google Classrom over Edmodo as a CMS program.  Is that Google Classroom allows for more student centered learning.  In Google Classroom not only can they have class discussion, for which some students might not talk actively in class with other students but only they will.  Google Classroom also allows for students to collaborate through Google Drive & Google Hangout.  Allowing them to turn in assignments together, instead of separately. 

Google

Introduction

It is very important to find online resources that allow for people to conduct an online learning environment.  Many school districts have begun to move to a strictly google apps format.  In MISD, I do know this as a fact as for many years now they have used google apps especially google drive.  Recently they have moved to other google applications that have made learning in the classroom better, such as Google Classroom.

Google Classroom

In recent years my school district has been using google classroom, before we were using moodles or weebly to do online assignments.  I think that is has changed the way teachers are teaching in the classroom to make their rooms more innovated.   I know that many of my colleagues have used Google Classroom, as a teaching tool in their classroom.  However, from what they tell me they haven't gotten really innovative with it as they are just using it as a place where they can go paperless in the classroom.  I have even tried to use it in my classroom, but found myself doing what my colleagues where doing and using it for a place where my students could get notes if they weren't in class or turn in assignments.  However, the problem that I ran into when it came to classroom was that my students would either not have access because they were a transfer student or didn't have access at home.  No matter the problems, this week I got to take a more in depth look at Google Classroom and it was when I finally began to see how and what I might teach through this tool.

Pedagogy

The how I want to teach them is to create online learning modules that are broken up by unit.  This way they can find it very easy, they can still find missing classroom and other information that might have been given out in classroom, but I want the learning modules to be easy to find.  I took World War II as my example unit and began to plan out what I wanted to do for my learning module.  First, I took a google form and attached it the assignment for which I titled it WWII learning module.  From there I began to create my learning module, first starting out with a recorded video from me about the topic of the learning module.  Then it was followed by a series of videos that students would watch, followed by quizzes.  After that students would then be directed to a google doc where they would complete a guided reading.  The last portion of the online module would be participate in a class discussion, by posting a response to a question and comment on their classmates posting.

Content

The learning outcome is that I want students to collaborate, this why I am making them participate in an online class discussion.  I have found that when I teach and ask questions, students are not participating mainly because their friends are in class and they just don't want to be that "student" in class.  However, when I use like a poll everywhere, they are all into it and asking questions and of course participate in answering questions.  You take the face value out of a discussion students are more willing to participate.  However, the ultimate goal is to get a better grasp of the important concepts that I need them to know to pass STAAR. 

Google Books

Since I am teaching Dual Credit US History next year and I want my students to read more historical works, I decided to try and explore Google Books.  I have used it during my graduate degree studies, but it was mainly to look up a book or a few pages, I never really explored it.

Pedagogy

The way that I would teach from Google Books is that I would find a few books for the students to read, excerpts from and have them read it.  The problem with Google Books is that if you want the full book you would have to buy that book.  So the best that I could do with Google Book is find a book that is no longer in publication, which for historical knowledge that isn't good because new theories about history always emerge.  So what I would do is just have them read excerpts that are printed and have them analyze what that historian is trying to say and then have them present it in class.

Content

The  learning objective from using Google Books would be just to get them to read at a college level, instead of the easy guided readings they might get in other classes.  I also want them to read something other than a history text book, especially when they have to do their own research writings in class. 

Google Sites

The last tool that I took a look at was Google Sites, I have a colleague that swears by Google Sites.  When I first started teaching I did try to use Google Sites, but the formatting was terrible back then.  In recent years they have made vast improvements on Google Sites. So as the last tool that I wanted to explore this week, I decided that it might be worth taking a look.

Pedagogy

The way that I would use Google Sites would be for a class website, Google Classroom could be used for that but the way it is organized could be better.  With Google Sites you can arrange it with different categories, instead of just straight down a page.  I can attach documents, especially the work that students miss in class and then they could turn it into Google Classroom. It is a great way for information to be sent out to the students.

Content

The learning objective for Google Sites, would be organization.  I have seen students with their bags crammed with papers, by having a place where they can find their information very easily formatted, I think might help improve grades in my classroom.

Conclusion

Google has many great applications, and I think it would take me all summer to play around with the different applications to finally figure out what exactly I would use it for.  However, until then I think these three applications will suffice in helping me create an online environment to make my classroom more innovative.