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For the purposes of this study, I watched the video Teaching with Technology the “Wright” way taking place in a third grade English Language Arts lesson.  This video focuses on the way the teacher, Tavia Wright, chooses to effectively incorporate technology, specifically the programs of Socrative and Edmodo.  The video begins with the entire class working together and facing the board as the Ms. Wright teaches the lesson through a projector.  The lesson is focused on various aspects of grammar.  The teacher asks questions throughout the lesson in which the students, using their laptops, answer through the app socrative.  The teacher then shows a graph of the class answers and a discussion commences relating to the correct answer.  The children have a chance to explain why they answered the way they did and then the right answer is explained either by student or teacher.  After the whole group lesson with Socrative, the students are still in their seats, but are paired with a buddy to work on the Edmodo site.  The students complete the activities posted by their teacher and with their buddy.  They explain their answers as they choose with their partner.  The teacher posts related charts and information to the website so the students can refer back to.  The teacher speaks how this type of instruction has built in differentiation and is great for her struggling students.  She noted how this constant intake of information from the consistent testing allows her to address confusion before the summative assessment at the end of the unit.  Using these apps and lesson setups, the teacher has seen grades increase dramatically.  The technology allows her to gather data and address concerns before students get behind.  

The main use of technology is for students to answer assigned questions relating to the lesson.  The students are able to use the tools within the app, such as the related information the teacher has posted, and the direct feedback to enhance knowledge.  These features are the effects with technology.  The effects with technology is defined as “how the use of a technology often enhances intellectual performance.” (Salomon 72).   Through the use of answering questions within the technology, students are gaining direct feedback as they go through the course work.  The direct feedback tells the student what they are doing right and highlights concepts they are still working to gain mastery of.  Through repetition of questions focused on weak points of student performance, the student gains a deeper, well-rounded understanding of the information.  They will learn skills and concepts that they will carry with them, even when the technology is not present.  This is the effects of technology, defined as “How using a technology may leave cognitive residues that enhance performance even without technology” (Salomon 72).   

The teacher does not specifically mention the idea of offloading, but utilizes the technology to help in such effect.  Off-loading is defined as using technology “to perform tasks that are tedious, difficult, error-prone, or time-consuming” (Martin 94).  The teacher in this video specifically uses technology to off-load creating multiple choice questions, creating activities from scrap, and charting the answers of students.  The simplicity of using technology to this effect allows the teacher to focus on the results of students and the students to focus on learning the concepts.  With preparation and learning the programs beforehand, off-loading with technology can prove extremely beneficially, particularly for this classroom. 

Through the entirety of this lesson, the teacher is monitoring for the use of a formative assessment.  Monitoring is defined as “ the function of assessing the quality of the coordination between systems and providing this information as feedback” (Martin 94).   Within the video, she does not explicitly use the term monitoring, but notes that with each answer the students provide in their app/website, she is able to track the progress and confusion of each student.  She noted how this allows her to address questions as they come up and says this is the key to her classroom success in student scores within summative assessments.  

This lesson and the incorporation of technology will make the students within this classroom smarter.  I absolutely believe this because the teacher is using different facets of distributed cognition to promote student learning, including off-loading and monitoring.  Menary states that “these vehicles [technology] thus afford us new cognitive transformations which would be either impossible or extremely difficult by relying solely on neural resources” (Menary 631.   The technology within this video supports this idea because it allows for students to get quick feedback and promotion of an individualized learning experience that they otherwise would not have received.  Additionally,  “cognitive technologies- technologies that afford substantial support of complex cognitive processing- make people smarter in the sense of enabling them to perform smart.” (Salomon 76).  For this video, Salomon’s statement means that students are able to be smarter through the effective use of technology and its effects. 

In this context, I define distributed cognition as the cognition of the stand-alone being one is referring to in addition to the cognition they gain through the use of a variety of technologies.  Cognition can no longer be equated to a singular individual when cognition can be so greatly enhanced through the use of tools within the classroom.  Morgan relates to this concept stating, “A conception of the mind in context, enmeshed in the affordances and constraints of the environment, may have profound implications for the fundamental nature of learning…” (Morgan 146). A distributed cognition is the new reality of intelligence and should be recognized within educators.

Thea Apanius and Taylor Pentz

Story (_____/20 points): The overall story must display a clear structure with a beginning, middle, and end. The story must follow a chronological order so that the viewer can see a beginning, middle, and end. The purpose for creating this digital story must also be present throughout the entire video. As the video creator, ask yourself: was this video created to tell a fictional story, inform the audience of a nonfiction topic, etc.? This information must be evident throughout the storytelling.

Project planning (____/20 points): Students engaging in this digital storytelling project must create a storyboard that shows clear evidence of project planning. To show evidence of planning, the digital storyteller will create a storyboard that must outline key details about the background audio, script voiceover, and images/videos that they plan to include in their digital story. Provide as much detail as possible about these features (volume level of the voiceover and background audio, names of songs, etc.) The more information, the better. Students in the learning community must also submit a script for their digital stories. The script must be written in the order that it plays out in the digital story. All members of the learning community are required to work on both the storyboard and the script.

Presentation and performance (_____/30 points): In terms of presentation, a completed version of the digital story will be posted to YouTube and to each member of the video’s blog so classmates and Dr. Shutkin can view it.  The digital story needs to have visuals and audio that help convey the story and as a result, the standards targeted. The educational aspects of the video must be promoted by the audio, video, and pictures.  The videos/pictures and audio will be used to reflect the ideas of the script and are not a distraction or take away from voiceover audio. The students must perform a script that will overlay the images/videos within the digital story.  The script will provide the educational aspect of the digital story and must be told in a way that is developmentally appropriate for the intended audience. 

Flow, organization, and pacing (_____/15 points): The images/videos, background audio, and voiceover script of the digital story is well organized in advance and put together with clear intention.  The voiceover is at a pace that is easy for the audience to digest, without being too fast or too slow. The story within the script flows in a way that is not awkward, hard to follow, or distracting from the information within the standard.  Every aspect of the digital story is evident that it was placed with intention and for the benefit of the intended audience. This means that the images/videos and audio are placed not in a way that is distracting or to be humorous, but supports the information in the standard reflected within the voiceover.   

Research (_____/15 points): There is clear evidence that the students took time to research their topic: shown through the addition of research relating to the overall standard.  The addition of research is meaningful so that research added is helpful for learning the standard associated with the video. The students are not simply adding random facts for the sake of adding facts because they will take away from the focus of the digital story.  The research used within the digital story is cited in the credits. There are at least 2-3 sources within the work to show that the students reach beyond their own prior knowledge of the subject to gain a deeper, multifaceted understanding of the content.

Throughout my observations and speaking with my teacher, I have learned a lot about technology within Warner Girls’ Leadership Academy.  From speaking with my teacher, she did not mention one specific coordinator of technology or an individual that has a title as such. She did mention that the children learn a lot from and work with the school’s library media specialist, Ms. Aldrich.  She goes to multiple schools within the Cleveland Municipal School District and works with many students. In terms of the technology available, my first grade classroom is not integrated with technology as much as the third grade and older classrooms are.  Within my classroom, there is a mini computer lab with six desktops in the back of the classroom. I have never seen any students work there throughout my observations. Each room has a smart board in it and the teachers have a work computer. My teacher utilizes her smart board in almost every lesson and is always entering grades into her computer.  

Other technologies within the building include chrome book carts that remain in each third grade and above classroom.  The students are assigned a chrome book that they use every single day. There are a couple of computer labs and computer carts within the school that teachers can reserve through an online form for their class to use.  The computer labs are within the media center and in different specialist rooms. When there is an issue with the technology I have seen my teacher call it into a different person in the building. I am not sure if she is communicating to a third party company or if she is speaking with a maintenance type worker, but she says that the call places a work order and somebody will come to fix it.  

When speaking with my teacher, she did not mention a specific firewall type or name, but she said that many of the general things are blocked within their school such as inappropriate websites and information.  All social media websites are blocked within the school. This makes sense because the students in my class are obsessed with Tik Tok and other social media. I would imagine that having access to these things would be a huge distraction.  The district staff has input into what is blocked or needs to be unblocked. In my own high school we were able to get past the firewall by getting off of the school wifi. I am sure this is a similar case within this school, but I am not too concerned about my first graders trying to get past it.  It is clear that within this school, technology integration is extremely important and supported by a staff of specialists. Technology is not as present in my first grade classroom either intentionally by the school or because my teacher may not be familiar with it.

Narration:

Thea Apanius and Taylor Pentz

Script:

-Every morning the sun rises. The sun brings lots of light and warmth.

-Throughout the day, the sun moves across the sky until it sets in the evening.

-The sun is 27 million degrees fahrenheit! That is really hot!  The sun’s heat is called thermal energy.

-The heat or thermal energy warms everything on Earth.  The sun makes the land, air, and water warmer when it is out. 

-In the summer everything is warm and sunny.  This is because the sun is out longer during summer days.

-The sun is able to give us more thermal energy or heat when the sun is out for a longer time.  During the summer the light does not spread out as much so there is more energy at any one spot.  This gives us more heat.

-In the winter, everything is colder than in the summer.  This is because the sun is out less during winter days.

-The sun does not give us as much thermal energy or heat when the sun is not out for a long time.  During the winter, the light spreads out more so there is less energy at any one spot. This gives us less heat.

-The sun is very bright! The sun is so bright that you cannot look at it for too long or it hurts your eyes.

-The sun is so bright that it lights up the Earth when it is out.  The sun’s light is called light energy.

-The sun gives the Earth thermal energy, or heat and light energy, or sunshine.

-The sun gives the Earth more energy than anything else. 

-When the sun goes down, the sky gets darker and the air gets a little colder.

-It is then night time until the sun rises again in the morning.

The images seen are screenshots of videos. The videos we used were retrieved from the WeVideo library and will increase in quality once published.

This semester, I am observing at Warner Girls Leadership Academy, an elementary school within the Cleveland Municipal School District. My first grade classroom consists of 25 African American girls, mainly coming from low income backgrounds. All of the girls are generally friendly with one another within the classroom, but react quickly when something happens that they do not like. Throughout the class, many of the students are performing Tik Tok dances either with their friends sitting at adjoining desks or to themselves. I believe this attests to how much social media the students use while at home. The teacher interacts with the students only to give information in relation to lessons or to correct student behavior. She does not attempt to connect with the students passed the boundaries of school topics.

Most of the lessons I have witnessed within this classroom are set up so that there is first, a whole group instruction, then a partner/small group activity to reinforce the ideas of the lesson, and finally, an individual assessment that the teacher collects. I have not witnessed a great deal of differentiation within this classroom. One instance I have witnessed occurred when the small group activity was in full force and the teacher was working with one student on a separate worksheet. The small group learning does not seem particularly effective for this group because students are instructed to not share their answers with each other until their partner(s) first find their own answers. This often leaves group members arguing with each other and hiding answers instead of helping one another. Additionally, the students often do not understand how to complete the activity and quickly get off task.

Technology is included within the classroom, but not highly incorporated. Lessons are given through the smart board within the classroom, as the teacher writes the problems through it. The teacher has played YouTube videos either to provide a mini lesson for the students or to play a read aloud book. One instance of the presentation of a digital storytelling was provided to the students as a biography of a figure for Black History Month. However, the teacher did not review the video beforehand and had to shut the video off because the students were not understanding the content. From what I have witnessed, the students do not have the opportunity to explore technology themselves. There are six desktops in the corner of the classroom, but the students have not or do not use them often. As previously mentioned, the students use a great deal of technology at home. Many of the students are obsessed with the app Tik Tok. The students talk about their own accounts and perform the dances as they are completing their work. While talking with the students, a couple of the students have their own smart phones and/or play on them often.

Gaining Perspective through Digital Storytelling

I would incorporate Code Breaker into my classroom as a STEM activity for the children, as a free time choice, as a center within center time, or as a part of a lesson.  I think that Code Breaker is a great opportunity for students to develop their critical thinking skills and ability to find/continue a pattern within a set of numbers. If I used this game as a math lesson I would create a lesson based on the common core standard 4.OA.5 Generate a number or shape pattern that follows a given rule. Identify apparent features of the pattern that were not explicit in the rule itself.  The game is greatly complimentary to this standard because it practices the identification of patterns that were not explicit in the rule itself.  Additionally, I would add on to an assignment surrounding this game that the student must write down the rule for each level they go through.  

Another standard that I think would work well with the use of Code Breaker is B3. 1.a Describe a time when you kept trying in a challenging situation (K-2) B3. 1.b Identify strategies for persevering through challenges and setbacks (3-5).  I think the younger and older versions of standard B3.1 are great for playing this type of game because the students will have to work on solving each level through perseverance and problem solving.  The students will be able to create their own strategies for solving each level, whether it be trying again or using their classroom resources.  

Code breaker will be a great addition as a stand alone activity within the classroom or as a part of a specified lesson.  The game provides ample opportunity for differentiation and problem solving experience as the students work through each level.  

During my second round of playing the game, I discovered some new elements that I think will greatly benefit students.  The first element that I discovered is that if you press the the lock in the lower left corner of the “select level” screen, all the levels will unlock (Image 1).  Previously to pressing that button, the player would have to unlock each level one at a time and in sequential order (Image 2). This element is greatly beneficial for the students that may get completely stuck one level unable to move onto the next.  The student is then able to continue coding in the next levels and able to retry the original level at a later date. I think that unlocking all levels will be helpful for students who get extremely frustrated when they are not able to pass a level and move on.  This element is also helpful for the above level learners who would get too uninterested in the beginning, easy levels that would result in their abandonment of the game. Having this type of differentiation built into the game, is essential for encompassing opportunities for all levels of learner.  

The second element of the game that I uncovered was the ability to add closed captioning to the games (Image 3).  This was a part of the game that I was never specifically searching for. In fact, when I first saw the closed captioning option within the settings, I took a second to pause and reflect.  I asked myself what type of learners would use the closed captioning and why is this an important element to include. My first answer would be that students that are hard of hearing could use the closed captioning as a way to take in the information that the game is speaking out loud to the players.  My next thought brought me to students that are more visual learners that would process the information better if they could read the words instead of hear them. One thing I noticed about the closed captions that I did not find up to par for these two types of learners were that the closed captions were quickly written out and taken away.  I would find them more beneficial if the print was in a larger font size and if the print would not disappear until the students clicked it away or clicked for the next sentence. Particularly with students that are still learning to read, the information is displayed and removed far too quickly before true processing can occur.