Reflections

Another school year passes, and as I reflect on what went well and what didn't work quite as expected, I think about my learning experiences alongside the students. Student surveys and written reflections are always helpful when analyzing a curriculum, but a key indication to success is not in the grading of student projects. It is sensing the overall tone in the classroom throughout the year. Did the students seems happy, engaged, eager to learn and able to produce quality work?

If I think about those moments where I sparked an interest, guided learning and helped to inspire an atmosphere of creativity, collaboration and communication, I feel satisfied that something did in fact go well. Not every project or lesson was perfect and I realized that each student needed to learn how to code complex pages and/or scenes in their own unique way. So I was pleased to see that the outcomes in my Programming class revealed student successes on personal levels.

During projects, I watched students take their coding skills a step further, troubleshooting issues along the way. They collaborated to solve problems that they never imagined existed and willingly helped fellow students achieve their goals. Each student left the course with various skills that they didn't have when they started. Students proudly showed me their work and the coding skills that they mastered. From HTML to JavaScript to JAVA animations, students experimented with the unknown and willingly accepted challenges along the way.

One student's JAVA animation of a race may look rather simple, but I know that it took time, patience and critical thinking to perfect the arm and leg movements. As I watched his characters running in a race, I couldn't help but think how his scene related to learning. Students all start together and run at different speeds, but in the end, they are all winners!

Assessing or grading student work?

Grades are due. We all begin the tedious task of correcting student work based on a designed rubric and then scramble to our gradebooks to input scores. Some kids have zeroes for not submitting assignments, some have low grades for leaving portions of the task undone and some have everything completed as required, so those students get the “A”. But is this a valid indication as to “what the student knows” about the subject? And what benefit is it to the student who then moves on to the next experience, not quite ever knowing why he/she scored a certain way.

Personally, I don’t like conventional grading. I would rather a student continually submit an assignment until they get it right, asking for help along the way and assessing their work based on the results. Only at that point, do I feel that they have learned what is in front of them and begin to show signs of mastery for the subject. If a student doesn’t pass the work in, then maybe he/she just doesn’t understand what to do! If it is half done, then he/she obviously missed something that needs to be addressed. Why not give these students some extra time and guidance so that they can achieve and learn? Isn’t that what school is for? If we are truly expecting teachers to “personalize” learning, then the entire system of grading needs to be analyzed to accommodate student needs.

“School Myths” by The Atlantic

Hearing Student Voices in the Classroom

Here's the challenge....you assign a multimedia project that require students to work in groups, using mobile devices or desktop computers. Students are recording audio and video for their classroom presentations but have to deal with background noise and common classroom/library/lab interruptions and distractions. In the end, you look at the presentations and see that the background noise truly distracts from the student's work.

Programs such as Flipgrid, Seesaw, Book Creator, iMovie and Screencastify offer many benefits for giving students a voice and sharing ideas with a broader, more global community, but how do you get quality recordings in a middle / high school educational setting with limited resources/areas for students to work effectively?

Here are some options:

1. send students out of the room to find a quiet spot or create an area within your teaching/learning space
2. give students this part of the project to work on at home
3. build your own mini-recording booth or order one online through Amazon to keep in your teaching/learning space.

Frankly, I like option #3 for PBL, but just something to think about......

In looking at classrooms of the future, these types of teaching / learning obstacles need to be addressed to accommodate project-based learning, collaboration and student presentations skills. If we are giving students a chance to use their voices, we need to hear them!

A Requirement for Teaching STEM/STEAM

While researching online for information to compliment my Technology & Society course, I came across Richard Lachman’s article in The Conversation, STEAM not STEM: Why Scientists need arts training. In this document, he asks the question, “how else do our universities teach empathy, ethics and citizenship than through our arts and humanities fields?” It makes perfect sense. Technology in education has embraced the STEM/STEAM concept by highlighting coding, virtual/augmented reality, science/math, engineering, digital art and robotic-type training at all grade levels to provide students with the necessary skills for future careers. With technology changing the landscape in so many areas, it is vital that we keep up with the latest trends and advancements. It is no secret that college graduates now need the appropriate skills to work with apps, programs and devices in environments where artificial intelligence and robots are integrated into daily lives.

Walk into any K-12 classroom during the “Hour of Code” week and you will see teachers and students spending a great deal of time participating in coding activities. Software companies are highlighting their latest and greatest apps for augmented reality, mobile app creation, video game design, robotics and drone engineering. These programs are currently being offered to schools across the nation and teachers are quickly adding them to their course work. The options are endless to keep our students ahead of the curve and knowledgeable about all types of STEM/STEAM ideas.

But as Lachman points out, the missing link lies in what the students will do with this knowledge and how its use will affect society? What about ethics and empathy associated with technology use? The idea of teaching ethics and empathy at the college level through humanities courses is important, but I think it needs to start even earlier. At the beginning of each semester, I ask my high school students, “what is the definition of ethics and what does empathy mean?” I usually get an array of answers and some just don’t even understand what I am talking about. By the end of the course, students seem to comprehend this vocabulary and its effect on society as a whole. They begin to realize that there is accountability and consequences when using technology in various fields. Unfortunately, this type of course is usually an elective in most school systems and this area certainly needs to be revisited.

Without ethics and empathy, teaching STEM / STEAM courses is only part of the process. I currently teach a Tech & Society course within a Tech & Engineering department, but a course like this can easily be added to any discipline. Looking at the “A” in STEAM, we can go beyond the standard arts curriculum to include these important concepts in a required course. The future of our students and how they will make effective decisions in society truly depends upon it.

Flipgrid for Discussions and Feedback

I recently used Flipgrid to initiate a discussion on a current event in my Tech and Society class. It was quick and easy and allowed students to demonstrate their speaking skills while offering their voice on a topic of interest. Used as an assessment, teachers can moderate comments and give feedback privately. A great tool and useful in the classroom!