MTL 528- Blog #1: The Need for Teacher Leadership

The Need for Teacher Leadership

As I thought about defining Teacher Leadership, I thought about the system changes that need to occur in order for teacher leaders to be successful.  Innovative and inspiring lessons are happening behind the four walls of a teacher’s classroom.  Students are benefitting from access to those superior lessons.  Who is not benefitting?  Other teachers and other students.  Not without the proper culture to invite teachers to become leaders can others take advantage from it.  Charlotte Danielson says that, “sometimes on their own initiative and sometimes within a more formal structure, these professionals find a variety of ways to exercise teacher leadership” (2007).  

There is a need for teacher leaders in the school system for reasons beyond influencing innovation and inspiration.  Without opportunities for teacher leadership, there are not many options for a teacher to expand their horizons.  Some are career-teachers and happy to stay within their own classroom.  But for many, there is a desire to reach out from behind the four walls of the classroom and share their expertise.  

By including teachers in the leadership of the school and district, it ensures that the school culture can maintain beyond any administration.  As I heard in class previously, a principal should be able to step out or leave, and the system works regardless of their presence.  Investing in teacher leadership can provide continuity and longevity in a vision and culture.

Additionally, principals are experiencing more demands than ever.  Distributed leadership is strong way to empower teachers and take pressure off a principal to please all stakeholders.  Principals can rely on the expertise that his/her staff has to inform and inspire other teachers.  One person (or principal) doesn’t have deep knowledge on everything, but by tapping into the power of teacher leaders, that knowledge can be shared to everyone.

Teacher leader roles fall into two main categories, formal and informal, which are both crucial to the success of a school system.  Formal roles are titled and often selected.  Their job is critical to maintaining order, curriculum, and training.  Informal roles are more naturally selected and collaborative.  Both are necessary to implementing change and innovation.  The influence can occur on a team level, school-wide level, or beyond-the-classroom.

The need for teacher leadership can only be fostered in the right environment.  The first would be a judgment-free zone.  Teacher leaders take chances and express new ideas but should not be criticized for their risks.  Secondly, a principal needs to protect and encourage teacher leadership in the school.  They, also, need to make sure that teachers feel it is ok to succeed and model for their colleagues.

Teacher leadership is a pivotal part of a school-wide system.  The need only seems to be growing and the desire of many teachers to be a leader seems to be just as strong.  With the right climate, teacher leaders will emerge and the benefits will be seen.

Danielson, C.  (2007).  The many faces of leadership.  Educational Leadership, 65(1), 14-19.

Welcome Blog for MTL 528

Hello Everyone in MTL 528!

My name is Rachel Sliwa.  I am in my second semester in the Teacher Leadership program.  I am working towards completing the masters and earning an endorsement in special ed.  I received my Bachelor's degree from Elmhurst College in 2010.  Most recently, I received my first master's degree in Educational Technology from Aurora University last year.

I have been a third grade teacher for four years and I look forward to being in this grade-level for a long time to come.  I love my team and I love the children I teach.  It is exciting to create lessons that inspire my students and challenge them to learn further.

The teacher leadership program fits nicely with my Education Technology degree.  It can open many doors for the future in an ever-changing career.

EduCreations and Science Project Tutorial

EduCreations Tutorial

The Benefits of Students Teaching Students Through Online Video

Schwartz, Katrina. (2014). The benefits of students teaching students through online video. MindShift. Retreived from http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2014/11/the-benefits-of-students-teaching-students-through-online-video/.

I really enjoyed this article.  Since our last course, I have been on the fence about making videos and Screencasts.  I love the idea but time is always a factor.  I see this vision of creating a math video for each lesson.  I like the Flipped Classroom model.  I don’t think, at this point, it works for every subject consistently.  However, I do see math as a subject that this can be used daily/nightly.  How am I going to make a video for each lesson?  Over the summer I guess.  But then I saw this article and it strengthened my feelings towards this idea.  

The article begins with a story of a high school student and her struggles with chemistry.  She realized that she was able to understand the content better from her classmates and friends rather than extra studying and resources online.  Once she understood the concept, she decided that she would make a video of her new knowledge and share it with chemistry students in a lower level. The reason students learn better from each other is because it applies to their lives.  It is relevant and meaningful.  She says there is a passion in their voices of having just recently learned how to solve/understand the material themselves.  There is an excitement in their delivery.  She says the best people to explain a problem are the people that actually faced them.

This idea extended past the high school level, and a middle school found it to be a powerful tool as well.  A website called Mathtrain is a collection of how-to videos created by mostly students on math concepts.  I am very interested in checking this out and perhaps bookmarking a few for my students (and parents) to view.  The creation of videos led to hard work but hard work that was warranted by the students and their desire to publish quality resources online.

My concern before about not having time to create all these videos was slightly alleviated when I read that the middle school teacher was offering extra credit for creating math concept videos.  I would love to have students create in class but again, time is a factor.  Some could be produced but would their be time for all of them?  Assigning it as extra credit is motivating and not dependent on time.  Definitely something to think about.  The bank of math videos will grow over the year and even years to come.  

The article talks about the growing need for videos like this.  Common Core has changed the way we think and students and parents alike struggle with this type of thinking.  Imagine the benefits of student-created videos.  

This article wasn’t really anything new.  Students teaching students has always been a good strategy but it just put into light for me how useful and engaging this style of learning can be.

Screencast-O-Matic: Videonot.es

Article Review #6- Educational Technology Research Past and Present: Balancing Rigor and Relevance to Impact School Learning

Article Review #6- Educational Technology Research Past and Present: Balancing Rigor and Relevance to Impact School Learning

Lowther, D.L., Morrison, G.R., and Ross, S.M. (2010). Educational technology research past and present: balancing rigor and relevance to impact school learning. Contemporary Educational Technology, 1(1), 17-35.

Summary:

Main Points:

Lowther, Morrison, and Ross researched several areas in educational technology ranging from its effectiveness to its trends.  I focused my review on just one section of their article- Is Educational Technology Effective: Meaningful Domains for Research.  The authors defined effectiveness as its effect size.  It is determined by the amount of achievement gains students make versus a classroom/school that does not integrate technology as a controlled variable.  The authors find it pointless to compare the different types of media available.  They note that nearly any type of media or technology tool could be used in an effective way.  It is dependent on the teacher’s instructional strategies and implementation of the tool.  The tool may enhance or offer alternate methods for the lesson.  The authors make clear that the effectiveness of a tool is dependent on how it helps the teacher and students reach their goals.

The first usage of technology that the authors evaluated is Technology as a Tutor.  One of the oldest and most used types of technology are known as CAIs.  Those are computer assisted instruction.  This type of technology has been around for a while and it was and is used for skill and drill practice.  They are often more engaging to students because of the animations.  The argument the authors make is whether the tool is more effective than a teacher-led lesson.  They see both sides of the debate.  The CAI can take the place of a poorly implemented teacher-led lesson and give better results.  Ineffective CAI can also distract from a well-designed teacher-led lesson.  The authors believe that CAI should be used to supplement, not replace instruction.  Some ideas that the authors suggest to help supplement lessons include: practice of skills, remedial instruction, enrichment instruction, over-the-summer instruction, higher-order thinking activities, and test prep.

The second use of technology that Lowther, Morrison, and Ross evaluate is Technology as a Teaching Aide.  Researchers need to evaluate the role it plays in a teacher’s organization and creation of lessons.  Allowing teachers to create lessons and make the material more meaningful may be an effective use of technology integration.  Technology increases engagement and the ability to interact.  Classroom response systems (clickers or more updated, Plickers) can help teachers instantly view and organize data.  They can give students instant feedback and use the instant data to help student progress.  

Finally, the authors looked into Technology as a Learning Tool.  One startling fact that the authors learned was that education was the least technology-integrated industry among 55 other industries.  Reports showed that high-school students were not prepared with the technology skills needed for many positions in the workforce.  Creating multimedia presentations, typing skills, and communication are skills that are lacking.  Schools that become more technology-intensive became more student-centered and promoted higher-order thinking.  There were increases in writing and problem solving skills.  Students, parents, and teachers developed a more positive attitude toward technology.  Peer-coaching was more present.  In opposition, the authors did not find that students had an achievement advantage on state assessments. There are short-term advantages that the authors noted, like higher engagement and and improved technology skills.  Teachers need to focus less on improving on state assessments and instead make technology more effective.  

Reflection and Application:

The portion of the article I read pertained to measuring and evaluating the effectiveness of media in the classroom.  I feel like much of the information the authors presented is reflective of the debate that teachers are actually struggling with.  Is the tool I am using worthy?  Is this supporting my students academic growth or is this just fun?  I do think we need to evaluate each tool we use.  I also feel like we may not know the benefits or usefulness of a tool until we have actually implemented the tool.  

In the section Technology as a Tutor, I saw a lot of correlation between the authors recommendations for the use of this technology and what I and other teachers I work with are using every day.  We use things like TenMarks, Scootpad, Math Center Games on Pearson, etc.  

In the section Technolog as a Teaching Aide, is where I realized this is the level I am working in most frequently.  I am trying to use technology to make my life easier, more effective, and more efficient.  I am finding that as I use certain tools, some are working well and I can incorporate in nearly every day.  Others, I have once or twice but it becomes tedious or loses its novelty and I discontinue its use.

In the final section, Technology as a Learning Tool, is what I feel I am working towards.  This will happen a little easier and faster when our school goes one-to-one.  I struggled to give students all the opportunities I want them to have with limited availability.  I think selecting the right tools and deciding how and when to use them is a very important task to tackle.

Study #5: Research on In-Class Use of Laptops and Other Devices: Effects on Students’ Learning and Attention

Study #5: Research on In-Class Use of Laptops and Other Devices: Effects on Students’ Learning and Attention

(2014, September 24).  Research on in-class use of laptops and other devices: effects on students’ learning and attention.  The Teaching Center Journal. Retrieved from http://teachingcenter.wustl.edu/Journal/Reviews/Pages/Research-In-Class-Devices.aspx.

Summary:

Purpose:

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of laptops and other electronic devices on a student’s attention and learning.  The authors looked into separate studies for sufficient data.  Researchers noted that students bring laptops to school for a variety of purposes, some educational and others not related to the course.  Some of the data will show that there were lower levels of engagement and negative relationships to students’ learning. Researchers investigated the difference between paper/pencil note-takers and laptop note-takers.  They noticed differences in memory retention.  Students that handwrite their class notes find way to select the most important information in order to keep up.  Those that were note-taking on their laptops give more of a transcript versus key notes.  The researchers believe there may be cognitive memory differences.  Researchers also noted that students who are “heavy media multitaskers”- able to switch between media and other tasks frequently had more difficulty separating relevant and irrelevant information.  This was further tested in the studies.

Participants and Methodology:

In one study conducted at the University of Michigan Center for Research Learning and Teaching.  The researchers selected sixteen various courses at the college.  In eight of the courses, the instructors were required to integrate technology and web-based lecture tools within their lessons.  The students could use their laptops to interact with lesson.  In the other eight courses, students could use their lessons but the instructors were required not to integrate web tools.  A total of 595 students were included in this study.

The second study was conducted at small university in the midwest.  137 students were surveyed.  The students were allowed to bring their laptops but the professor was not required to incorporate them into the lessons.  They completed multiple surveys related to attention, clarity in the lesson, and level of learning.  

Results/Findings:

In the first study, the courses that integrated lecture web tools and technology had higher levels of student engagement when compared to the classes that did not integrate technology into the lesson.  The integrated courses had 60% engagement whilst the control group (non-integrated lessons) had only 39% engagement.  In terms of learning, the integrated-technology courses had 53% of students reporting that the laptops helped their learning.  40% of the students in the non-integrated reported that it helped their learning.  In addition to reports of higher engagement and learning, 75% of the students in both groups also indicated that the laptops increased the amount of time they spent doing non-related activities on their computers.  They often felt distracted by other students’ computers as well.  The researchers determined that if the instructor incorporated technology into the lesson, the benefit was greater.  

In the second study, 83% of students reported that they used their laptops to take notes during the lecture.  At the same time, 81% of the students also reported using their laptops to check and send emails and 68% instant messaged.  43% surfed the web and 25% even played games.  In this study the researchers found that the use of laptops negatively affected a student’s course grades.  It also revealed that the students had lower engagement in the lesson and less understanding.  

Reflection/Application:

I felt after reading this study that this is the real debate of going one-to-one.  Of course money and maintenance is a major consideration but what about the benefits on education.  These studies had conflicting data.  Technology can benefit learning but it can also cause unnecessary distraction.  One thing that I thought was key in the first study was the comparison courses that had technology integrated into the lesson versus the courses that did not.  This just goes to show how students prefer to learn and ways to help them stay engaged in today’s classroom.  As we have said before in class, technology is a tool.  If students are using it simply for the sake of using it, what is the benefit?  With younger students, it may be easier to control the technological distractions.  They are eager to learn the device or program.  The lesson may be more structured and the teacher may be more active in the activity.  As students get older, I see the multi-tasking increase and I see the teachers allowing more freedom with the technology.  The distractions may increase as well.  I think as we come into this new age of education, we are going to continue to see difficulties but also successes.  As the teacher, we need to be proactive and able to take risks.  I think, especially for older students, we need to gain a new type of patience.  We may not be able to control everything that is happening during the lesson in regards to the use of technology but we have to support the students the best way possible.