Action and Assessment Plan
Introduction
In order to gauge the effectiveness of having more engaging digital lessons I am going to attempt to move through the SAMR model of digital instruction by focusing on altering my traditional content into more engaging lessons for students (Puentedura, 2014). I have already gathered information about stakeholder perception of digital content. As indicated in my literature review and introduction, students want content that is engaging. I should not just simply move traditional classwork onto a computer. Changing the type of content to follow the SAMR model will allow for different types of lessons that are more engaging for the students (Puentedura, 2014). Giving ongoing feedback and digital rewards are an integral part of giving students digital positive reinforcement (Chou and He, 2016). Our online learning platform, Schoology, allows for digital badges and rewards for students. These include learning types, participation, star pupil, excellent work, and leadership to name a few.
Intervention
Moving some of the traditional classwork, homework, and assessments online, with the use of our classroom set of Chromebooks, will allow me to immediately change some of my daily instruction. Our weather unit is our first large unit of the school year and many of the activities that we have done in the past were not completed with the use of any technology. The goal is to engage the students in a modality that they perceive as being more enjoyable and engaging. For example, in week rather than having students create a paper foldable that shows the information of each layer of the atmosphere, students will create a digital presentation instead. We will also have students conduct video blog weather forecasting rather than having students create a poser each day for the upcoming weather. Using more engaging lessons will hopefully engage students at a higher level.
Rational
Moving towards a more technologically driven classroom environment involves moving up through the Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, and Redefinition framework of our lessons (Puentedura, 2014). To see the value of the SAMR model, I hope to engage my students with digital instruction and increase their participation in our digital lessons. In previous data collection efforts about the perception of using digital resources many students consistency commented on how they wanted digital instruction to be more “fun” and pointed out how they enjoyed the individuality that certain digital lessons allowed. A few students did comment on how some of the previous lessons simply moved a worksheet from a piece of paper to a computer (Substitution and Augmentation) and they found this a waste of their time. The goal for the upcoming data collection efforts should be to measure how students view lessons that were reaching towards Modification and Redefinition.
Data Collection
Data will be collected in several ways. At the end of the unit, I will administer a quantitative 5-point Likert scale survey of how student perceptions of digital instruction have changed. Quarterly summative assessment data will be compared from this year’s 6th grade students to the previous 2 years when less focus was made on digital instruction, in order to gauge whether there was a change in achievement when more digital instruction was used. A qualitative short-answer style survey will also be given to stakeholders (students and parents) to gauge their views of digital instruction. The last data point will include instructor reflections of the learning process each week. This data collection effort will allow a triangulation of data
Timeline
Week 1-students will create a digital presentation highlighting the composition of the Earth’s atmosphere
Week 2-student digital lab report for energy transfer within the atmosphere causing air mass movement (radiation, convection, and conduction)
Week 3-digital video weather forecasting
-students will video tape themselves predicting the weather for the following day at school using our weather forecasting tools
Week 4-students will collaborate with another Department of Defense school in Germany to gauge how weather prediction is different there
-the classrooms will share climate data about our specific locations through video presentations since the time difference does not allow real time interaction
Week 5-End of quarter summative assessment, stakeholder survey, and teacher data analysis