Field+Study+Proposal

Jeff Hart Aug 2009 Field Study Proposal 1. Focus and Rationale for study Currently I am an eighth grade teacher at Kwayhquitlum Middle School. I work on a team with two other teachers. The main curricular areas that I am responsible for are Math, French, Language Arts and Physical Education. Part of my assignment also involves being responsible for Athletics at the school. I am focussing on what impact my Sharepoint site will have on my teaching and my students learning. Sharepoint will hopefully be an important tool in organizing both me and my students. As a major part of my job involves out of class activities that often force me to leave the classroom right at the end of the school day I am hoping that the Sharepoint site will provide me with a tool to interact with students outside of the classroom. The Sharepoint site will be a means of organizing both me and my students. I am hoping that this increased organization will lead to more accountability of my students. I am also excited to see how the Sharepoint site affects the amount and quality of interaction that I have with parents. In providing Students with interesting tools that help them organize and make them accountable I hope that they will move towards becoming self-directed learners. 2. Essential Question (Big question) · How will Sharepoint impact the organization, accountability and learning of my students? 3. Sub-questions · Do students have access to the internet at home? · If not will they regularly access the internet at school? · Have students been in a class that has used a website in the past? · Do students have experience working in an online environment? · Are students comfortable with working in an online environment? · Does using a website increase the students’ sense of community? · Will students be more accountable to themselves and their parents if their work is posted online? · Will Sharepoint increase homework completion as parents are more informed about homework? · Will Sharepoint keep me as an educator more organized? · Will the use of Sharepoint increase student achievement? · How will Sharepoint affect my interactions with parents? · Will Sharepoint be an effective platform to answer student questions? 4. Outline of the design of your inquiry: My first challenge for this inquiry is to create both a public and private Sharepoint site that I will proud of and that my students will want to use. Both of these Sharepoint sites are currently under construction. It has been very time consuming learning how to use Sharepoint. I hope that as my own proficiency with the platform increases my site will become more useful for both me and my students. As I become more proficient with Sharepoint I will be able to do more interesting things with my students. Plan of Action September · Familiarize myself with Sharepoint so that a public and private virtual classroom can be created. · Have students complete a survey that gives feedback to the level of expertise that the students have with technology and with working in a virtual classroom. · Have parents complete a survey with information involving the access that their children have to technology. This survey will also include information about the organizational and motivational habits of the students. <span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· Teach students how access and use the Sharepoint site. Lead them through the online discussion component of Sharepoint. <span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· Create a few lessons that focus on getting students familiar and comfortable with Sharepoint. <span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· Interview students about their experience with technology and their willingness to use it   <span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">·  Begin using Sharepoint as a central location to store assignments, handouts and tutorial information. <span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· Begin posting homework assignments online on a daily basis. <span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· Begin using Sharepoint as a central location to store assignments, handouts and tutorial information. <span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· Get information from previous teachers of students about homework completion patterns. October <span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· Have each student create their own wiki page on Sharepoint. <span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· Begin facilitating an online discussion using Sharepoint every few weeks. <span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· Continue posting homework assignments online on a daily basis <span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· Continue using Sharepoint as a central location to store assignments, handouts and tutorial information. <span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· Begin conferencing with students to get information about how the technology is impacting their learning. <span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· Conference with parents to see if there have been any changes in their student’s work habits and work completion. <span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· Collect data to see how the use of Sharepoint has impacted the organization, accountability and learning of the students. <span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· Track communication with parents. November <span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· Continue posting homework assignments online on a daily basis <span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· Continue using Sharepoint as a central location to store assignments, handouts and tutorial information. <span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· Conduct a second survey of parents to see if they have noticed any change in their child’s study habits. <span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· Conduct a second survey of students to see if they feel that they have improved their work habits. <span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· Conduct final interviews of students to see if any change has taken place in their own beliefs about their study habits. <span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· Synthesize the information that I have collected and begin to prepare for the final presentation. December <span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· Finish synthesizing information and complete final presentation. Data Sources <span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· Student Surveys – Students will be surveyed at the beginning of the school year, at some point during the first term as well as towards the end of the term. This will give data across the time frame. Hopefully this information will show any changes as the students become more comfortable with the Sharepoint site. This data should allow me to attach some numerical significance to the student responses. <span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· Parent Surveys – Parents will be surveyed once at the beginning of the term and once at the end of the term. This will provide another source of feedback and allow me to see if any changes have been seen at home in terms of how students are interacting with the technology. <span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· Student interviews – Students will be interviewed regularly to see how the Sharepoint site is working for them and to see how it can be used differently to improve the organization, accountability and learning of the students. <span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· Observations of students behaviours – I will be making observations to see if there are any changes in the students’ behaviours. <span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· Numerical observations – Keeping track of the number of interaction that I have with parents as well as the number of students that do not complete their homework at any given time. 5. Connection to educational research Academic Resources <span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· __An examination of the Perceptions of K-12 Teachers with Active Classroom Websites__. By: Julius, J. In C. Crawford et al. (eds), Proceedings of Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education International Conference 2005 (pp. 1435-1437). Chesapeake, VA: AACE <span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· __Sams Teach Yourself Sharepoint 2007 in 24 hours__. Walsh, Mike. Indianapolis, Ind: Sams, c2009 <span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· __Turning Lurkers into Learners: Increasing Participation in your Online Discussions__. By Alley, Jason; Greenhaus, Karen. Learning and Leading with Technology. V35 p. 18-21 Aug. 2007 <span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· __Evaluating the Importance of Common Components in School Based Websites: Frequency of Appearance and Stakeholders Judged Value__. By: Miller, Susan; Adsit, Karen I.; Miller, Ted. Tech Trends: Linking Research and Practice to Improve Learning. V49 n6 p. 34-40 Nov-Dec 2005 <span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· __Students’ Perceptions of Teacher Credibility and Learning Expectations in Classroom Courses with Websites__. By: Witt, Paul L.; Community College Journal of Research and Practice V28 n5 p. 423-434 2004 <span style="font-family: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· __K-12 Teachers’ Use of Course Websites__. By: Friedman, Adam. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, V14 n4 p. 795-815 2006 Technology resources 6. Other Resources: While the academic resources will help frame the discussion surrounding the usefulness of Sharepoint other resources will be valuable in the design of my Sharepoint site. These resources include the training section on my43. As well there are several staff members at my school who are well versed in using Sharepoint. 7. Connection to Program Capacities <span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">Participate in and help develop learning communities to support your teaching practice <span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">Engage in a critical cycle of action reflection to understand and develop your practice <span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">Use, evaluate and integrate existing and emerging technologies into your practice <span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">Draw on educational theories, research and philosophies to inform your use of technologies to support teaching and learning <span style="font-family: Symbol; font-size: 11pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol; msobidifontfamily: Symbol; msofareastfontfamily: Symbol; msolist: Ignore;">· <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">Access, evaluate, use and participate in new media interactions in education <span style="font-family: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;"> I would hope that as I work through this field study that in some way I am touching on all of these Program Capacities in some way. The capacities are fairly vague and you could argue that working through the field study is essentially working through each of these capacities. 8. Sharing the field study learning It is difficult to say at this point how I will share my learning from the field study. I would imagine that my journey through this field study will be chronicled with some type of technology such as Power Point or a Digital Story Telling medium. Hopefully I will be able to show that I have met all of the program capacities in the next few months.