I would have to say that my TechQuest project was a bittersweet experience. At first, I was optimistic that my absent students would benefit from me posting daily content online. On the “bitter” side, I didn’t notice any change in student behavior/achievement for my efforts. On the “sweet” side I learned how to use my classroom hardware more effectively and discovered some excellent online tools for capturing content. As part of this blog entry, I have to respond to the following prompts:
How would I would approach a project of this type differently in the future?
I think that expectations of absent students and procedures for accessing missed content need to be established at the beginning of a course, not mid-stream. Including this information in the course syllabus and posting it on the class website would make students, and watchdog parents, more aware of the options available. Too many students resorted to the ingrained method of asking for missed work during bell time on the day they returned to class. I feel that a project of this nature would be more successful if it was implemented by a group of teachers (preferably the whole staff) and if it was initiated at lower grade levels where academic habits are being formed.
Another thing that I would do differently for a project of this nature is to do a better job of quantifying the results. I should have kept a running log of attendance data and the reported reasons for student absences. My informal observations showed me that more students were absent on assessment days or for review sessions preceding assessment days. I get the sense that these students are not coincidentally ill on assessment dates but rather they are working the system to gain extra study time and to ask their peers what is on the assessment. With no attendance penalties, and little motivation, it makes sense to only study exactly what you need to get by and avoid school as much as possible. This strategy can be especially effective when grades are heavily weighted toward assessment results and not daily work. Getting back to the topic of quantifying results, if I had used a counter on the class website, or implemented a learning management system (e.g. Moodle), I could have tracked how many students were actively accessing the posted resources.
What are some lessons that I learned?
One of the things that I learned is that the research in scholarly journals runs several years behind the implementation of the technology being studied. I suspect that this is due to the amount of time required for writing research grants, developing protocols, collecting data, and going through the peer review process. While this is sound scientific practice, it is less than useful for teachers exploring cutting edge interventions.
Another thing that I learned is that it valuable to have a peer group to bounce ideas off of and to have a group to hold you accountable for completing the project objectives in a timely manner. Given the work load of a typical teacher, it is extremely unlikely that one would undertake a project of this nature without an incentive (e.g. course credit) and without the support of peers in a similar situation as well as instructors with experience in providing guidance, resources, and insights.
What is the future of the project?
Even though I have not observed overwhelming changes in student performance, I feel that continuing the project is the right thing to do. All students, not just the absent ones, can benefit from having class content available outside the traditional classroom environment. Continuing the project will enhance my skills in using technologies like podcasting and screencasting and eventually help me build a “library” of content that can be used to create a blended or fully online course. As outlined earlier in the post, I will also look into tracking reasons for absences and the number of times online content is accessed.
If I really want to help students who are skipping or are absent due to disciplinary issues then I need to look beyond providing online content. No amount of content will be useful if the student isn’t motivated to access it. The key to helping these students is to work on making the content more relevant to their lives so they become engaged in the educational process.
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Jeff ~ It has been my experience that it takes quite a while (read: months) before improvements in student behavior and/or increases in student achievement levels to show up, after putting a new program into place. Please forgive me if I sound hard-hearted. For some students, school isn't a part of their quality world, and they could care less about passing a test or turning any assignment. For this type of student, you are providing them with a choice and a helping hand, by posting course materials online. They have the choice to find an Internet connected computer so they can access their course work. Or, they can elect not to take advantage of the resource. Sometimes the situation is beyond a teacher’s control. Parents have to be on board, too! An idea just came to me ~ how about having an after-hours presentation for parents in the fall. You could demonstrate how they can access your course materials, your grading policy, missing assignment policy, etc. If your district hosts an open house, that would be an ideal time for presenting this to parents. I do understand where you are coming from - I have a couple of students right now, who aren't making particularly wise choices, when it comes to school work.
ReplyDeleteI was actually thinking that Fall Open House would be an ideal venue for presenting this. Unfortunately, it was not well attended this last year. In one class, I had one parent show up! The parents who show up are the parents of the engaged students (go figure). The chronically absent students have parents who don't show either. I am going to forge ahead because I believe it will help at least a few students. Thanks for the comments!
ReplyDeleteHi Jeff!
ReplyDeleteI am very impressed with your TechQuest. All of your points are relevant and your research is interesting. Don't be too frustrated with the result. It takes time for students to catch on. Parents have a big part also.
I know your parents will come around. When they see your passion about your students and technology you will get more participation. I find I have to give multiple times for parents to engage. I do the same presentation after school for the parents picking up and one in the evening. Sometimes, I even invite them to class if I know they are working nights. When I make something to send home that I need returned, I just make double because I have to send things home with some students more than once. Last week, I gave out Detroit Pistons cups to get a survey back and that worked well.
It is also hard to start things mid-year. When you present the procedures in the fall, you may get a better participation rate.
I really like this point: "One of the things that I learned is that the research in scholarly journals runs several years behind the implementation of the technology being studied. " I really never thought about this. It is very true.
Overall, you did a great job! P.S. Keep in touch.
I think that I will likely have excellent parent participation this fall at open house. We are implementing our Freshman House and parents (as well as students) are very curious and ready to pounce on any information the teachers have to offer. Freshman parents are also considerably more engaged then junior parents (as is to be expected as students mature and take on more responsibility for their own academic success).
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