Web Conference Reflection for September 23, 2012

I attended two web conferences. The last was last week, September 23, 2012. As usual the conference was of value. There are the complaints and notes of what is and is not working, as well as some genuinely helpful questions. There appears to be an overwhelming number of side conversations that sometimes have nothing to do with the assignments or concerns of the students. This can be distracting as you have to read the written posts as well as listen to speakers in order to stay abreast of what is going on. Dr. Abernathy and Dr. Jenkins do a fairly good job of keeping the discussions on track and even then the conversations are sometimes annoying. My questions are most times answered without my asking. I made note of one other student's concern that most of the reading material was geared toward middle and high school partnership concerns. I deduced from the earlier readings that that was because there is a higher percentage of parent involvement in the elementary grades. That may be, but in some instances a low level of parent involvement exists at the elementary level as well. I did not ask some questions I needed answered, but look forward to getting those answers as I am nearer to completion of the program.

EDLD 5326 Action Research Project Update

Action Research Project Title:  Assessing Student Gains Through the Use of Technology

Number of AR Project Documented Hours: 54

AR Project Summary:

 

I had to revise my research project again after being told I would be teaching a different grade level and teaching different subjects. Curriculum guidelines that were promised in July were not available until late August which slowed the necessary research into the use of technology to teach the subject I chose to use.  The overall question is still being answered. The subject I chose to use instead of the projected Language Arts is Social Studies. I was able to find additional Internet-based material to use while teaching Texas history and geography to fourth graders. Since most of the students have embraced the additional time given to utilize computers while studying, once the project is over, I will use it with all classes. There has not been a significant difference in student academic achievements reflected by the data collected so far. Perhaps with time, a more significant difference will emerge. Very few students have access to Internet connections at home. Perhaps if they had, there might be greater academic gain fueled by their ability to view and work on assignments at home. Rotating students among the four classroom computers presented my first challenge. This is the fifth week of additional computer use and we finally have the bugs ironed out. Thirteen percent or about 5 of the students have shown significant gains. Since this is a class of only eighteen students, I wonder whether this percentage is simply a reflection of the number of students who would normally make those kinds of gains.

Below is a revised timeline of my action research project. The proposed blog was not able to be put into effect because most students had no Internet access except for at school. The dates for data collection changed since I need to have the project finished by the completion of the 11th course.

Guidry's Revised Action Research Plan
Goal: Assessing Student Gains via the Use of Technology
Action Steps(s):	Person(s) Responsible:	Timeline: Start/End	Needed Resources	Evaluation
Research prior use of technology to enhance instruction. (Literature Review)	Self: Ava Guidry	May 1, 2012 to June 15, 2012	Internet access, computer	Evidence of substantial documentation by classroom teachers who use technology in the classroom.
Create surveys for students,  design online lessons and assessments, review sites for use in classroom.	Self: Ava Guidry	July 2012 to August 2012	Internet access, computer, social studies scope and sequence and/or curriculum guide for 4th grade	Completed design of surveys, lesson plans, assessments prepared
Data Collection and Analysis	Self: Ava Guidry	August 27, 2012 to October 2012	Internet access, computers, Surveys for students, records of student performances with and without use of additional technology.	Surveys completed and returned. Collected data analyzed and compiled.
Findings and Discussion	Self: Ava Guidry	November 2012	Computer with word processing, excel, and spreadsheet programs.	Publication of research findings and sharing with principal and co-workers.