Teaching with Technology 2013: Educators Talking Tech

Teaching with Technology 2013: Educators Talking Tech

Written By Sheila Conrad, Raneen Elbakry, James Fetterman, Julie Fleischman, Ashley Kendell & Kathryn Weller

Edited By Dustin De Felice

Copyright 2013 Sheila Conrad, Dustin De Felice, Raneen Elbakry, James Fetterman, Julie Fleischman, Ashley Kendell & Kathryn Weller

Cover Design by Julie Fleischman

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The work within this text originated in a course on teaching with technology at Michigan State University. This course is offered yearly as part of the Master of Arts in Foreign Language Teaching (MAFLT) degree, which is supported by the Center for Language Teaching Advancement (CeLTA). For more information, please visit http://maflt.cal.msu.edu/ or http://celta.msu.edu/

The opinions expressed here are the views of the writers and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Michigan State University.

Contents

Introduction

Tech Talk by Educators

Going Paperless: The Benefits and Challenges of iPads in Education, by Sheila Conrad

Blended Learning vs. Online Learning?, by Raneen Elbakry

BYOD: Using Mobile Devices to Improve Student Engagement and Achievement, by James Fetterman

Teaching Anthropology in the Digital Age: The Advantages of Online Anthropology Courses, by Julie Fleischman

The Use of Social Media in the Classroom, by Ashley Kendell

Automated Essay Grading: Proceed with Caution; by Kathryn Weller

Ideal Tech Infused Classrooms

An Ideal Tech Infused Language Environment. By Raneen Elbarky

Promoting Learner Autonomy: The Ideal Technology-Infused Language Classroom. By James Fetterman

Tech-Infused Forensic Anthropology Laboratory. By Ashley Kendell & Julie Fleischman

An Ideal Tech-Infused Composition Classroom. By Kathryn Weller

A Critique of an Existing Facility

The World Language Department at Bettendorf High School. By Sheila Conrad

Talking Tech, Reviews by Educators

Tech & Creativity

Review of 4 Ways To Ensure Students Learn While Creating.

Review of Creating Innovators

Review of The Wikipedia Project: Changing Students from Consumers to Producers.

Tech & Language Learning

Review of Brave New Digital Classroom: Technology and Foreign Language Learning.

Review of Jane's Gems: 25 Free Resources for Learning a Language Online.

Review of Perceptions of the Computer-Assisted Writing Program among EFL College Learners."

Tech & Online Teaching

Review of 10 things I learned about teaching on-line classes.

Review of The case for e-Supplements for improving instructional health: Do they make a difference?

Review of Online done right: The importance of human interaction for student success.

Review of Transition from Tradition: 9 Tips for successfully moving your face-to-face course online.

Tech & Literacy

Review of Digital and Media Literacy: How Can It Support 21st Century Learning?

Review of How to Help Teachers Use Technology in the Classroom.

Review of Implementing 21st Century Literacies in First-Year Composition.

Tech & Tools

Review of Reaching for the Skype.

Review of Hand-held mobile interactive whiteboard.

Review of Product Review: Boomwriter.

Tech & Twitter

Review of How important is Twitter in your Personal Learning Network?

Review of The Effects of Twitter in an Online Learning Environment.

Concluding with Teaching with Technology

About the Authors

About the Editor

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Introduction

By Dustin De Felice

Each new day is full of challenges and surprises for any educator. Many of these challenges and surprises relate to helping students become better learners. Over the past few decades, there have been an increasing number of tech tools available to educators to help with these challenges and surprises. In fact, within the last decade, there has been an exponentially growing list of tools and possibilities to help with this constant goal of helping learners succeed. In this volume, you'll read the words and stories of educators adapting to and working with technology in ways that make their classrooms, whether virtual or traditional, better places for all stakeholders. These professionals work in unique situations and they have needs and perspectives that show through in their technology choices. In fact, one of the most lasting and enduring features of this tech explosion is the ability to personalize or individualize one's experience with electronic devices from computers to tablets to smart phones. As an educator, I had the distinct pleasure of working with a small group of dedicated professionals who were interested in discussing, experimenting and critiquing technology use in their classroom as well as in classrooms-at-large. The final result of this time spent together is contained in this volume where each individual educator talks about his or her preferences, experiences and, ultimately, classroom practices. We organized our work into four sections beginning with persuasive essays on specific topics within technology and classroom use and ending with reviews of tech talk. Before I outline the four sections, I must mention that this group of professionals included language teachers (Arabic and French), forensic anthropology doctoral students and composition instructors. This broad representation of fields helped us see our own practices through the eyes of our colleagues and led to greater and more inclusive discussions.

In the first section, you'll find persuasive arguments for specific tech tools or specific approaches to classroom use as it relates to technology. Sheila Conrad begins with a discussion on the benefits and challenges of using iPads in education within the context of a high school in Iowa. Her article is a timely contribution to the current push for school districts to implement iPads in their classrooms. She also provides a balanced approach to strengths and weaknesses for such implementation. Raneen Elbakry continues our discussion by focusing on two different approaches to learning: blended learning versus online learning. Her article also takes us from the K-12 domain and into higher education. She deftly covers a number of articles on the effectiveness of each learning environment and leaves the reader with a clear choice between the two. James Fetterman puts the focus on the hardware side of the equation. In his essay, he looks at bring-your-own-device (BYOD) approaches that are becoming fairly commonplace in businesses and are making inroads into schools and universities. While this approach solves many of the problems related to institutions and organizations maintaining their own hardware, it leads to a number of new and, possibly, more challenging disadvantages. His final conclusion illustrates why this approach may be worth overcoming the challenges presented. Julie Fleischman moves our discussion to a very specific issue and one that may be surprising given the immense popularity of online course offerings. In her essay, she puts the spotlight on the lack of current research on courses offered virtually within anthropology departments. Her essay also highlights the challenge for anthropology as a field in bringing online courses to fruition. Any discussion on technology would be remiss without some mention of social media. Ashley Kendell investigates the use of social media in multiple environments from the elementary to the university classroom. Her essay focuses on the positive side of the incorporation of social media tools into a classroom, especially as it relates to millennials. Her resounding message is that social media is a necessity for interacting with today's students. Our last essay covers technology in an interesting conundrum. Kathryn Weller is a composition instructor who has learned very quickly that one of her most difficult and challenging jobs is providing feedback for her students and their compositions. Given how challenging and time-consuming this task is, it is not surprising that there are a number of software programs for automated essay grading. These programs provide efficiency at the cost of other valuable pursuits. Kathryn is very clear in arguing that these types of programs are only successful when used in specific contexts and with the support of a human grader.

Return to Contents

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Tech Talk by Educators

Going Paperless: The Benefits and Challenges of iPads in Education

By Sheila Conrad

When Bettendorf High School started our one-to-one iPad implementation in the fall of 2012, there was excitement in the air. However, as students’ grades dropped and teacher morale with it, everyone wondered if it was all a huge mistake. Now two years into the program, we are seeing the positive, as students are collaborating with one another and finding creative ways to represent their learning. There were many hurdles at the start, but the benefits have made the initial challenges worthwhile.

Rhor (2013) observed the effects of the iPad initiative at Burlington High school in the Burlington Massachusetts Public School District through its second year. Students were witnessed taking notes on the iPad, recording in the foreign language classroom, rehearsing in music class, and even taking the Advanced Placement Spanish exam as approved by the College Board, the iPads having replaced the need for foreign language labs and departmental computer labs.

There were also some problems that Burlington High encountered during the beginning stages of its new iPad initiative. One of the issues was that the school’s server crashed on the first day. Another was that the students weren’t prepared for some of the newly required skills, such as syncing to the cloud and managing data (Rhor, 2013). Students’ grades dropped temporarily, but thankfully the distraction level, which had gone up in the first weeks of the program, had dropped off by 9 percent as of January (Rhor, 2013). In the end, the benefits outweighed the initial concerns. In its second year of implementation, survey results at Burlington High School showed that most of its students believe that tablets make learning more fun, improve the quality of homework, and help them understand the material better (Rhor, 2013).

To note other advantages, a February 2012 study referenced by Rhor (2013) found that iPads used in an elementary classroom in Auburn, Maine helped students by improving literacy. Another 2012 study referenced by Rhor (2013) found