First day reactions and then some...

So, Educational Technology...

I've seen classes where teachers use technology that their comfortable with--like Powerpoint, videos, etc.--and it looks real nice and works real good but the tech wasn't adding to the class, and if anything it was taking away from the class because the teacher/professor used it as a crutch.  So far it seems that the technologies that Dr. Kruse has presented us with, are ones that we can expect students to use and be familiar with.  It is also kind of refreshing to have a professor teach through the technology and make it fun all at the same time.

I know that as a science teacher, technology can and should be something that is used in the classroom; especially since many fields in science are moving so quickly.  One of the things that I've seen as a useful aid (especially for assigning/tracking homework) was an online homework program (the program we used was lon-Capa: http://www.lon-capa.org/).  It allowed students try to find answers multiple times (a number set by the teacher), then once it was submitted the professor could see who did the homework and how well they did.  Unfortunately the one that I used in school had some hefty startup costs.  I have seen/used something like it (surveymonkey.com) that you can use for free and it compiles results like the other software.  I think if you click on the link below you should be redirected to a short sample quiz, or paste the link into the address bar (I've set to require you to answer the questions in order to finish):

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/96D3FX8

Have fun and I'm kind of interested in seeing the answers to the questions.

As for the rest of the wonderful bullet points that Dr. Kruse gave us...

Bloom's Taxonomy Connection:

-Depending on the project and questions that are used, this type of technology could be used for all six levels.  For instance a normal quiz/homework question set that I make and send to the students would definitely fit the remembering, understanding, and applying levels.  But because surveymonkey,com is so easy to use, I could ask students to read a section then make a short quiz about that section that section which would focus on the material not how to use the tech--this would fit the every level because you're having the students remember, understand, apply, and analyze what they read, evaluate the material to determine what was important, then they would create a means to get those ideas across to the other students.

Consideration of Struggles for Implementation:

-Software that you would need for some is free, but you would need a server that is dedicated to its use.  This can be pricy and adds the possibility for tech issues on its own.

-Every student might not have internet access at home.  If this were the case, some students may not get the assignments done which in turn impact grades.

Consideration of biases, trade-offs, and limitations:

-Like for implementation, students may not have/have limited internet access which would detract from using this as a classroom aid.

-I know from past experience, the questions only asked for the right answer.  The process that an answer comes from is often just as important as the answer itself (I'm thinking computations right here, you may have the equations set up right, but made a calculation mistake; or you may have every number correct but the equation is partly wrong...kind of like the idea of partial credit)

-Unless you go over the questions students might not learn about the mistakes they made or how to do the problem correctly.

Explanation of Teacher Standards/Student Standards

-INTASC Standard 5:
     - Depending on the class content you covered you could make these kinds of things group activities or encourage your students to work together but still hand in their own work.  There are so many options that surveymonkey gives you for what the question/answer combo can look like (essay, multiple choice, true/false, etc.) that you as a teacher aren't limited to looking at whether the answer is right or not, you can ask for answers that require students to think critically about the subject matter you're working on.

-ISTE Standard 2:
     -This use of the technology at hand can be used as an innovative way to create assessments that can integrate digital the digital world and the "analog world."  If for example there was an important concept that was covered in the class lecture/reading and you wanted to make sure that students understand it, this would be a way that you could present several questions that go over that idea, test their understanding, put it in a form that may not be as intimidating as sitting in a classroom taking a quiz.

Some relevant research:
In the July 2002 edition of the Journal of Engineering Education (Foertsch, J., Moses, G., Strikwerda, J., Litzkow, M. July 2002. Reversing the Lecture/Homework Paradigm Using eTeach Web-Based Streaming Video Software. Journal of Engineering Education. 267-274.) an article was presented that looked at how well a new internet based study-aid/homework class activity worked at a university.  The people who analyzed this study were looking to see if the by changing the lecture to more of an online video course and allowed the lectures to be more of a back-and-forth exchange.  It showed that this exchange helped to solidify the ideas and concepts that professors were trying to get across because they were applying them in an atmosphere where they could get clarification that made sense.

The article did a decent job presenting the how and why the research was performed in the setting it was.      I like this article shows that the idea of sending some of the class work home (in this case, some of the lecture), can open up the time that students have interacting with the teacher, who can then help the students understand the areas they found troubling.  The methodology that the researchers used seemed sound--several representative samples from the class at different points during the duration of the class, each sample had different students in it than the one before so they could check how different students reacted to the new software after being apart of the normal class experience for part of the semester.  It fits pretty well with the project that I'm working on: the quizzes that I'm thinking of using could help me to identify students having and sections of the materials that were troublesome, helping me tailor what and how I teach in the upcoming material.