EDU 710-BEAssignment 1

Please tell about your educational interests and develop 3 ideas that may lend themselves to a master's research project.  Identify the need, a possible solution project, and what resources you might need.  The topics do not lock you into anything, this is just a way to get you thinking and try out the discussion board. Respond in a couple paragraphs to this prompt, and respond (reply) to the posts of two others by Tuesday, Feb. 16.

Technology Share Drive for the District: My first idea for my action research project is to develop a technology share drive for the Benicia Unified School District. This school year the other third grade teachers and I received SmartBoards in each of our classrooms. Each of us realized early on that in order to maximize the use of our newfound technology we would need to research and create lessons with the Notebook software. We also began sharing the lessons we were creating to make it easier and more accessible to use. I began to realize that it would be great if there was a place we could access lessons for our grade level and subject matters that were already made. Why should teachers create similar lessons for the same stories and concepts that another teacher has already done? Why not share our lessons and resources and save each other time and energy? I feel that creating a share drive will allow teachers in Benicia to add Notebook lessons, power points, websites, and other tech resources to a common space or area and swap ideas with on another. I will need to learn how to create a share drive and find an organizational strategy so that teachers are able to find and add information and resources quickly and efficiently.

SmartBoard Guidebook and Training Session for Elementary Teachers: As I mentioned above my third grade team and I recently received SmartBoards in our classrooms. We were sent to an all-day training right after they were installed. We were taught the basics on how to navigate the new technology and operate our new equipment, but we were still lacking the tools on how to make our technology work for us to its fullest potential. I feel that putting together a SmartBoard Guidebook and Training Session that is geared specifically to the elementary school teacher will give teachers like my team a place to start once they receive their technology. The guidebook will have ideas on how to incorporate the SmartBoard’s tools and features into lessons, and tips and tricks to make lessons even more engaging. The training session will incorporate another elementary school teacher from the district who has experience with the new technology and understands the frustrations that many teachers feel when they first receive and work with document cameras, LCD projectors, and SmartBoards together. The training session will also show elementary school teachers how to create Notebook lessons, share them with each other, and then add information to lessons they may have created in the past or have gotten from a colleague. This could be something that is used as an in-service, or teachers within the district could be hired and paid to teach these training sessions. The goal would be to have at least one teacher at each elementary school that could explain parts of the guidebook or complete the trainings when needed.

Wiki for Teachers Regarding Technology in the Classroom: I often hear that teachers usually have more questions about the technology that is available than answers for it. Whether they are getting new technology, or trying to make the technology they have now work for them, many teachers reach a point where they aren’t sure what to do next or how to do something using tech. What if there was a place that teachers could go to get answers to questions regarding the tech they are using in their classroom or want to use in the future? How empowering would that be? I feel that building a wiki that allows all teachers within the district to post questions and answers to technology related questions would be a great resource to

go to when they get stuck. It would be almost cost-free and would require more organization and an administrator more than anything.

Responses:Kelly- Project Based Learning is a great topic to take a better look at. I have done parts of it in my own classroom in the past with fifth grade students and it was a great motivator for both my students and my own teaching. PBL is such a broad subject matter that you may want to look at doing PBL in one specific subject matter like social studies or language arts. If you can give yourself a focal point for your research then I think your research project will be more helpful to you in the classroom. Great ideas!

Megan- I would be very interested to see what research you were to find on how document cameras affect the classroom achievement level. I too have a document camera in my classroom and although I love it, sometimes I think it makes my day easier more than it helps the kids. However, the combination of the document camera with other technology seems to really amp up the engagement level. Great idea, especially because document cameras are becoming more and more available and needed in the classroom. Good work!