Now Go Forth and Teach (with Technology)

You were an amazing class, and lots of fun!

You will make great teachers.

I am wondering whether the stuff we learned in here will expand your creativity. Try to remember what you were thinking of this class way back in Week 1, and reflect on what you've learned or realized.

Did the course meet expectations? Will technology play an important role in your future classroom more or less than you had assumed it would?

Take this opportunity to think about, as a student, how technology has helped you to prepare for greatness on the other side of the lectern. 

Adding Value to Data

Critics of standardized testing have often pointed to what they call an obvious flaw; to wit, that achievement data is skewed by how well prepared students are. This new collection method satisfies that:

Value added is designed to account for demographic differences. It looks at the same test results (no new tests are given) but with an eye on how much a student’s performance improved each year. ["School evaluation gets a new tool," Times New Leader]

School reformers are obsessed with data; they say it is the only thing that will tell them what works.

In fact, some educational leaders and key decision makers gather rather mundane data to help them improve their schools. One firm visits classrooms for mere minutes to tally "Critical Teaching Attributes," or behaviors that they say teachers should display. They then quantify those data across the school, month, or year.

What sorts of data would you like to acquire and measure in your classroom? What makes the most sense? What will help you make the most effective instructional decisions?

Death by PowerPoint

(This is a repeat) You may have heard the phrase.

If you are in the Armed Forces, you have definitely experienced it.

Here's another one: "with great power comes great responsibility." (Who said it? If you know, just shout it out. You'll impress your classmates, and that's what college is all about, right?)

PowerPoint fits the theme, and is a metaphor for how we use many technologies. We shouldn't wield a technology without learning how to use it appropriately. A jackhammer doesn't do well for tapping in picture nails.

Sure, the technology we study in here is supposed to make teaching more efficient, but our paramount consideration is that it make learning more effective.

Read this article, inspired by too many clumsily-delivered PowerPoint presentations.

Which techniques suit your style the most?

The Beginning of a Beautiful Adventure

Beginnings are always exciting for me.

Spring semester is one of those things that has me pretty enthused, not only because it gives me the chance to share some really interesting things, but because I'll also get the opportunity to learn some new stuff.

Technology, in a way, represents constant beginning. With new ways of doing stuff, we can always start over. Of course, we would be wise to keep doing things that work, but in our age, we have choices.

What are some things you will begin this semester? What opportunities will you take advantage of in this class?

Give Me a Suggestion or Two

Short and sweet: how can I streamline my grading policy?

I would like to make it clearer and cleaner. I'd also like for the grades to be a broad reflection of your performance throughout the class.

What would you change?

Bee Efficient!

Watching the presentations tonight underscored how technology can make us more efficient workers. Gutenberg's printing press made possible mass production of books. The spinning jenny resulted in cheaper yarn helping to usher in the Industrial Revolution. Of course, Henry Ford's famous assembly line production drove down the price of automobiles for American families. And the microwave oven allows college students to consume vast quantities of unhealthy foods during late night study sessions without making a huge mess.

Teaching, as in book-making, can be done more efficiently. And, unlike heating a hot pocket at 2 a.m., finding ways to teach more efficiently actually benefits students.

For example, in my math class I am able to assemble a standards-aligned exam using database test-generating software that sorts items by standard, objective, and difficulty. Then, after students fill in their bubble sheets, I scan them and run detailed reports according to the same criteria.

How does this make me more efficient besides processing tests more quickly (which is a huge benefit by itself)? By having such detailed reports instantly, I can isolate weaknesses early on and clear up misunderstandings before they infect other topics. My students will also know exactly what is going to be expected of them in the course, instead of having to learn a broad set of information and hope that what I assess is including in that.

Let's find the easiest, quickest way to teach and learn what we need to.

What's one thing you saw tonight that will help you be a more efficient teacher?

Without Data, What's Your Opinion?

It has been said that "without data, all anyone has in an opinion."

In teaching that can mean a variety of things, but it often gets lost in all the other aspects of teaching that we have to deal with.

But if teaching is, at least in part, to prepare students for the real world, then it must be important to use data that reflects reality, or life outside the classroom. If education is supposed to mimic reality, our evaluation measures ought to be realistic, right?

What types of evaluation measure do you use in real life? For example, how do you judge how long to leave your burrito in the microwave? If it comes out burned, do you make adjustments? What other "data-driven measures" do you use, and how well do they work?