Running head: SMART Board Training 1. Instructional Design: SMART Board Training and Resources. Jacob Bane. Jodi Canale. Lauren Garcia-DuPlain

Transcription

1 Running head: SMART Board Training 1 Instructional Design: SMART Board Training and Resources Jacob Bane Jodi Canale Lauren Garcia-DuPlain Nicole Tesny University of Akron

2 SMART Board Training 2 Abstract Relying heavily on the ADDIE model, this report details how our instructional design team worked with an SME at the University of Akron to develop both a SMART Board Training and Resources Wiki ( and a duplicate module for the university s learning management system, Springboard!. Using a detailed learner and task analysis, our group was able to design, develop, and implement the project based on the expressed needs of our target audience. While the Wiki was well-received, our team concluded that the training would have been more effective given a less constrained time frame and more interaction virtual or otherwise with the target audience.

3 SMART Board Training 3 Instructional Design: SMART Board Training and Resources Introduction to the learning situation Analysis The subject matter expert for this instructional design project, Dr. Jane Beese, creates online professional development workshops for a school in Canton that is working with the outreach department at The University of Akron. The workshops she provides are aligned with either the professional development activities the school has selected as a focus for the year or cover areas where the staff has indicated need (usually through surveys or informal discussion). The online workshops supplement current efforts in the school that provide graduate credit for teachers. The workshops are developed in an effort to build on what the teachers are already working on within their classrooms. This design provides a natural context for the professional development workshops, which results in developmental and ongoing learning opportunities which are job-embedded. Following the workshops, the teachers take part in a project in which the work in teams to develop a year-long plan to address the diverse needs of their students (in the urban school setting). According to Dr. Beese: The project [includes] a collaborative-team component as well as an evaluative component--while they [use] their plans they [meet] and [evaluate] their progress and the plan s effectiveness. This instructional design project - an online workshop on SMART Board technology - was requested by faculty through a brief survey they took at the beginning of the year. There are more than 30 faculty members who teach K-12 at the school. Of those 30, many

4 SMART Board Training 4 indicated that they have a SMART Board in their classrooms (or might in the future), but that they do not know how to use the interactive features that SMART Board offers. Our team selected this project because it matched our unique set of abilities and experiences. Three of the members have experience using a SMART Board in the classroom - covering both the elementary and post-secondary levels. We were also well qualified to build the online workshop because of our experience creating and maintaining wiki sites, as well as developing materials for Springboard!, which will be the final home of the online workshop. More so, one of our members is a graduate assistant for Design and Development Services at UA, and he currently works on code and designs for Springboard!, giving him unique access to the learning management system. Identification of the learning problem and statement of the learning goal Dr. Beese indicated that some of the faculty may have received district training in SMART Board technology, but very few of the educators knew how to integrate the technology into their daily teaching. As a result, the technology is either sitting unused or serves as a display screen for things like movies and PowerPoint presentations. It seems that many teachers who use SMART Boards in their classrooms have an idea of what the technology offers but do not know how to develop and use the interactive features. More importantly, some teachers, it seems, use the technology without a great awareness of the TPACK principles. To address this learning problem, the online professional development workshop will demonstrate to the teachers how to integrate pedagogy as well content knowledge into SMART Board lessons. As they explore the online workshop, the teachers will learn:

5 SMART Board Training 5 the principles of TPACK and why it is important; the educational affordances and constraints of SMART Board and the Notebook software; how to get started with SMART Board and Notebook; how to locate resources to guide them as they use SMART Board for teaching and learning in their own classroom. Detailed needs analysis In this case, the teachers expressed the need for professional development pertaining to SMART Board. At the beginning of the school year, they were surveyed to see what type of professional development opportunities they would appreciate. According to the SME, the survey results indicated that a large number of the respondents were interested in learning more about how to use the SMART Board. To expand upon the original survey, our design team sent a second, more specific survey to the teachers with the goal of clarifying their expressed need for SMART Board training. We developed an online survey using Checkbox 4.6; the SME then sent the survey link to the principal who then distributed the information to the teachers. We closed the survey after one week, and at that time, 12 teachers had responded. To verify the need for SMART Board training, the survey first asked if the teachers used technology in the classroom. Of the 11 responses, seven teachers said they use technology every day, three use it one to two days per week, and one teacher never uses technology. Next, the survey asked the teachers for open responses to the following prompts:

6 SMART Board Training 6 1. Please take a moment to explain how you use technology in your classes. If you do not use technology, please explain why. 2. If you use technology in the classroom, please explain how you connect it to the pedagogy. 3. If you use technology in the classroom, please explain how you connect it to the content knowledge. 4. How do you envision using the SMART Board in your classroom? If you have used it in your teaching, please share any successes or difficulties you ve experienced. 5. Please take a moment to share any technology concerns you may have. The answers to these questions guided our efforts to build a comprehensive online workshop. Detailed learner analysis Aside from helping our team determine the specific needs of the target learners, it also helped us to understand the cognitive, social, personality, and physical characteristics of our learners that we should consider while designing and developing the online workshop. To start, we acquired general personal and professional characteristics of the learners. Of the 12 respondents, eight identified themselves as female and four as male. Seven of the faculty members are in the year age range; two members are 31 to 40 years old, and the remaining three members are greater than 41 years of age. To guide our decisions about what templates to develop for the online workshop, we asked what grades

7 SMART Board Training 7 the faculty teach. Four of the respondents answered that they teach fifth grade or below; the remaining eight teachers cover sixth grade and higher. Additionally, the teachers who responded to the survey cover a range of subjects including math, language arts, social studies, science, and special education. The survey also requested the teachers to provide a self-assessment of their learning styles and preferences. When asked if they learn best through visual instructions or hands-on practice, the majority (9) responded that they prefer visual instructions. Nine respondents also indicated that they prefer lessons that are short and narrowly-tailored; four teachers wrote they preferred lessons that are portable. Next, the survey offered questions that would give our team a sense of the learners specific entry competencies. All 12 teachers who responded to the survey said that they have access to a computer at home; 11 of them own a PC with the remaining respondent owning a Macintosh. All of the respondents appear to be active computer users. The survey results indicate that all of the respondents use their computers for word processing, Internet browsing/shopping, and research. All but one of the teacher use computers for teaching. Lastly, a few respondents answered that they use computers for accessing itunes or other music services (5), for gaming (1), and for other unnamed purposes (1). This level of comfort with using computers at home is matched in their professional lives. All of the respondents indicated that they are comfortable using technology in the classroom, with many responses leaning toward extremely comfortable. In fact, seven respondents use technology in the classroom every day, three people use it 1-2 days a week, leaving only one person who never uses technology in the classroom. Interestingly, when asked to assess their students comfort level with digital technologies, results show

8 SMART Board Training 8 that the teachers see their students as less comfortable with technology, placing students from mid to low on the comfort scale. The broad use of activities shown above coupled with the teachers comfort level demonstrate a competency level that will be beneficial as they delve into the capabilities of the SMART Board. Those teachers who already use the SMART Board in their classrooms commented that they use it for: showing videos displaying notes and PowerPoint presentations pop quizzes exit tickets displaying results from Senteo clickers displaying items on the document camera (ELMO) review games SMARTslate Very few of the survey respondents indicated that they use any of the interactive capabilities that are inherent with SMART Board technology. One teacher said: I feel at times that the SMART Board [sic] can become a glorified overhead or power point [sic]. I wish I knew more techniques about the SMART Board [sic] software in general that may help me make interactive lessons easier. Like this teacher, others indicated that time is a factor that prevents them from taking full advantage of the technology. Lastly, the survey asked questions that would help our team assess the respondents understanding of the TPACK principles. When asked to explain how they connect technology to their pedagogy, only two respondents displayed an understanding of this

9 SMART Board Training 9 principle by answering that they use technology to engage different types of learners and to assist the visual learners. The rest of the responses leaned more toward how the teachers cover content. When specifically asked to explain how they connect technology to the content knowledge, things like district initiatives, indicators, and standards were frequently mentioned, but none of the answers truly demonstrated how technology is used because it can convey the content knowledge in a way that could not be achieved through other means (i.e., televisions, personal computers, handouts). Design Phase Dr. Beese noted that she would like a unit of instruction created that taught the SMART Board basics and allowed for exploration into the more complex functions of the device for those educators who wanted to challenge themselves. Educators will need to understand the basic functions of the SMART Board before they will be able to move onto more complex tasks and seamlessly integrate the SMART Board technology into the classroom environment. From an initial survey conducted to ascertain educator abilities it was found that a majority of the users are only using the SMART Board as a projector screen and one educator is not using the technology at all. The initial verdict shown by the educators is that they are willing to use the SMART Board in new and inventive ways, yet lack the time necessary to learn these features. The goal of this project will be to make the materials as accessible as possible for the educators, so that they will be able to learn the skills necessary to incorporate the SMART Board into their classrooms without taking too much of their own time.

10 SMART Board Training 10 Dr. Beese originally envisioned that these self-paced SMART Board resources would be housed on Springboard!, the University s learning management system, where the users could also perform self-assessments. While we did populate a Springboard! site for her, our team decided that we should implement using a Wiki for two reasons: 1) The teachers we were creating the module for did not currently have access to Springboard! and 2) We wanted the materials to be available to the target population even after their access to Springboard! had expired. So, while we waited for Dr. Beese to include us as 2nd Instructors on a Springboard! site, our team developed the Wiki. As we designed the wiki, we kept the following learning objectives in mind: A. Learn TPACK principles of integrating pedagogy and content knowledge into SMART Board lessons B. Download an application (Notebook) for SMART Board C. Navigate the basic functions of a SMART Board and the Notebook software D. Design a lesson using Notebook These objectives will be set up in the course in a modular type progression. The goal was that the educators should master the skills and resources associated with the first objective before they should move on to the second and more complex activities. In this way the course would be self-paced and allow for flexibility of the learners and their varying abilities and time constraints. Some of the educators could start on the second objective if they have already mastered the first, or the third if they have mastered the second, and so on. Because we were building a self-paced online module, we knew that we could not control exactly how our target population would navigate the space. If time were a factor, a

11 SMART Board Training 11 user could have decided to implement before reading the TPACK groundwork we planned to provide. Therefore, we knew we had to provide suggestions for how to best use the resource we were building. This method would support our ultimate goal for the educators to be able to seamlessly integrate the SMART Board into the classroom environment without teaching the technology, rather teaching the content using the technology. Time is always at a premium with educators, so our team pushed to get the materials created with adequate time for the teachers to review the materials, develop a lesson, and implement in their classrooms. Therefore, we strove to have a finished course with materials available for the educators around November the 10th, the middle of the week before Thanksgiving. In this way, the educators would have time to look at the materials and incorporate their new skills into their lessons during the week of Thanksgiving, when our experience suggested they might have more room in their lesson plans and might feel more open to experimentation with the new resources we had provided. A majority of the educators confirmed our idea, answering that that they could incorporate the strategies during this week. Also important, a majority of the educators said that they could complete a brief survey the week of Thanksgiving to document their experience. Development Phase SMART Board Training and Resources Wiki As explained earlier, we decided to develop both a Wikispace and a Springboard! module. Both spaces were created with different pages for SMART Board learners and

12 SMART Board Training 12 users of various skill levels. When developing the Wiki, we created the following categories: TPACK, Getting Started, Templates, Resources, Our Resource Page, and Implementation. The TPACK page explains the theory behind TPACK for those who are not familiar with it. We also included a visual for those users who might learn better that way. At the end of this page, we also included a self-assessment to help teachers see what they had learned or needed to review. The Getting Started page has a video that we created by recording the toolbar functions and explaining them with captions. While there were already some videos out there, we thought we could direct certain parts of the content to our target population if we created our own training video. The idea of the video was to help the teachers who were not familiar with the program acclimate more quickly and also see the benefits of using the technology. This page also has some short tutorials and resources that were available on the Internet. The Templates page has premade templates that the learners can use to develop their own course specific lesson. During the design phase, our group had a lengthy discussion about what types of templates would be most useful to our users and would also make it easier for them to implement in our time frame. Instead of teaching them to design their own lessons from scratch, we thought that templates would make the implementation less time consuming. We chose templates that would cover a range of age groups and also some that were Thanksgiving themed because of our implementation timeline. There is a Jeopardy game where the teacher can just input their own questions and answers. We included two versions on the page because the more elaborate template ask for Senteo Clickers. Aside

13 SMART Board Training 13 from the Jeopardy quiz templates, there is a newspaper template for sharing classroom news and a balloon pop game where the students pop the balloon to reveal answers to questions. These are just a few of the templates made available to the learners. When designing these templates we tried to make them simple and easy to follow directions for a quick, easy implementation. Under the Resources page, we put resources we found would help users understand and learn more about SMART Board technology. The first resources section includes more tutorials for both beginner and advanced users. There are also tutorials on how to make the lessons more interactive, which was a primary concern for our target audience. The second resources section contains fresh ideas where users can look at different software, websites, and lessons that are available for SMART Board. The third resources section, Games and Activities, contains many pre-made games and activities for teachers to use on their SMART Boards. The final resource section, Lessons, takes users to a websites where teachers can share lessons they have created. Our Resource Space is a page where the users can add resources that they have found helpful as they explored SMART Board technology more. They could even share tips and tricks they have used along the way. This page is open for editing by the users while the rest of the Wiki remains protected. Lastly, the Implementation page pertains to our project. It explains what we hope the users will do with the templates and under what time-frame. It also provides the link to the final evaluation survey that we built in Checkbox 4.6. If Dr. Beese continues to share the Wiki with teachers, we can remove this section easily without effecting the rest of the Wiki.

14 SMART Board Training 14 We did not develop specific lesson plans for our target population because the group covered so many grade levels and content areas. Instead, we chose templates strategically to help meet the needs of the users. These are some of the directions on the Implementation page made available to the learners: Directions: Choose a template from the Templates page. Some templates are more sophisticated than others and will take longer to prepare for your class, so make sure to look at all of them before choosing. After making your choice, fill out the template to use with your class. Be sure to think about the content and pedagogy before adding to the template. Use your completed template as a lesson for your class (preferably before Thanksgiving break). On that same page, we also asked that the users complete an evaluation survey after they had used the wiki and one of the templates. Here is the request as it appears on the Implementation page: After completing the lesson with your class please take a few moments to complete the evaluation survey to let us know how we did. You can find the survey at: Survey.aspx?s= 48fc8d8e72cd43ef80dd845bd6a73a 53 Thank you so much for participating in the SMART Board Training and Resources selfpaced learning module. We appreciate the time and energy you used to participate in this professional development. Don't forget to add to the Our Resource Space once you are comfortable with SMART Board, so we all can share tips, ideas, and templates! We also provided the link to the final survey in the that Dr. Beese sent to the educators asking them to visit the completed Wiki. Our team also sent a reminder on Monday, November 29 to try to elicit more responses.

15 SMART Board Training 15 SMART Board Training and Resources Springboard! Module Springboard allowed us to use some more advanced features that were not available in the open source wiki space. We were able to set up the materials in the content area of Springboard! in a module type procession, allowing greater ease of use for the users. The users can move freely through the materials depending on their skill and ability level. we also added self-check quizzes throughout the module. While these quizzes will provide users with feedback, they will also provide administrators a way to evaluate the efficacy of the module. For the most part, we were able to mimic the Wiki pages using Springboard! The links feature allowed us to create a space called online resources, where we added a few outside links that we found beneficial in our resource exploration. The discussion tool, which we renamed Have a New Resource or Question, proved very useful in the creation of the resource space. In this area, one discussion thread allows educators to propose questions that can be answered by the moderator or other educators; a second discussion thread is open for educators to post their own materials. To provide the users with a synchronous way to meet, we included the chat tool, renamed Need to Talk, and opened a chat for anyone who might need to meet virtually. Finally, we changed the classlist tool Educators, so that everyone using the resources can see who else is accessing the features and materials. The advanced features of Springboard! provided us with flexibility and will hopefully allow for longevity of the material, although anything in the technology world will not have a long life without updates. There are a few November specific resources included. These will remain although they may not prove beneficial to educators year

16 SMART Board Training 16 round. It is our hope that Dr. Beese and the educators that she serves will find the resource to be beneficial far into the future. Implementation Phase Although our primary implementation was with our target audience, our team did have a chance to test the Wiki with colleagues at Jodi Canale s school. The feedback we received was largely positive and helped reassure us that we had developed a good resource. Jodi s colleagues did comment that they would have liked more instruction on how to use one of the templates we provided; so, prior to implementing with the target audience, we were able to revise the template by making those clarifications. When it came time to invite our target audience to review the Wiki, Dr. Beese mediated nearly all of our interaction with the target audience; there was no face-to-face interaction with them. When the Wiki was complete, Dr. Beese forwarded our detailed instructions to the group on Tuesday, November 16, with a request that the educators visit the wiki and try to implement the lesson before Thanksgiving break. We also requested that the educators complete a brief survey by November 30th. Because this was designed to be a self-paced module, we did not have an interaction with the target audience during those 14 days. While Dr. Beese and the educators who visited the wiki expressed satisfaction with the resource we d developed, we do think the timing could have been improved. For many educators, the days leading up to the Thanksgiving holiday can be hectic - with absences, parties, and summative unit exams all coming into play. This means that learning new SMART Board technologies and trying to implement them will not be a priority for the

17 SMART Board Training 17 educators. As our team discussed in the analysis of the Brad Wiley case, a less strained time would allow for a more successful implementation. If we were not constrained by our own semester and project deadline, this may have been a good in-service to provide during the holiday break; however, Dr. Beese will have a greater opportunity to provide the materials during an appropriate time. We also found it difficult to imagine the resources that would be helpful for such a varied audience. Some of the educators we were serving had virtually no experience with SMART Board technology, while others had received district training and/or had used a SMART Board in their own classrooms. As a result, our first attempts at designing the wiki left us feeling overwhelmed until we decided to narrow our focus. If we had the chance to meet with the educators, even a focus group, it may have given us a better idea of where to begin. Furthermore, it would have been nice to implement the project in person for any educators who wished to attend - particularly those with no experience or previous training. Creating an online module provides great flexibility for the user, but also puts more pressure on the creators to grasp the needs of the users. Whereas, a face-to-face workshop gives the presenters a chance to answer questions and shift focus mid-stream per the users preferences and concerns. To answer this need, and if we were not restricted by Dr. Beese s guidelines, we could have set up a time to meet with the educators in a virtual space. If Dr. Beese continues to use the Springboard! module, the chat tool might be a good place for this type of interaction.

18 SMART Board Training 18 Evaluation Phase There were two main ways that the target population were able to evaluate the training materials and resources: Within the wiki, teachers were invited to complete a self- assessment at the end of certain pages. When teachers chose to take the brief follow-up quiz, they received immediate feedback and our design team was able to see the results as well. If a teacher did poorly, our team could then examine the materials in the wiki to make sure there was not an oversight in the design or development phase. All teachers were invited to take our Implementation Survey, whether they had the opportunity to implement or not. We decided that even teachers who did not have access to a SMART Board in their classrooms would still be able to evaluate the wiki to some degree. The final Implementation Survey was designed using Checkbox 4.6, and a link was sent with the link to the wiki. We asked that teachers implement the project before Thanksgiving break and take the survey thereafter. Only one teacher submitted a survey prior to Thanksgiving Break, so the team asked Dr. Beese to forward a reminder that encouraged teachers to help us improve the wiki through their evaluations. In the end, we only received two responses. With only two responses, the feedback remained largely positive. Both respondents answered that the wiki was easy to navigate, and only one of them had used a wiki before. The two teachers also said that the wiki resources matched their level of comfort and expertise with SMART Board (i.e. beginner, intermediate, or advanced).

19 SMART Board Training 19 As described earlier, the wiki provided basic SMART Board information, an explanation of TPACK, and templates for the teachers to customize according to their content and pedagogy. The respondents answered that the section on TPACK gave them an understanding about the importance of integrating technology in a way that supports their content and pedagogy. While they seemed to find the basic resources and TPACK pages helpful, neither respondent used any of the templates we provided; one respondent did not have a SMART Board in the classroom, and the other did not have time to use the resource. However, the teacher without the SMART Board indicated that she would revisit the wiki should she ever receive a SMART Board. Although the respondents seemed generally pleased with the wiki resources, they did indicated that they would like to see templates, how-to resources, and ready-to-use games. They also expressed willingness to participate in the wiki community by sharing resources and suggestions on Our Resource Space. Lastly, one respondent answered that he felt more prepared to use SMART Board; the other respondent (likely the one without the technology) answered other, but not no. Dr. Beese also reviewed the wiki and expressed her satisfaction with the results, writing ( correspondence): Hello Lauren and Team members: I am so pleased with the smartboard training and resources wiki. You have really captured everything I had wanted in the training module. The look is clean and it is very easy to use. I absolutely love the resources you have included.

20 SMART Board Training 20 Thank you so much for your hard word--i am sure teachers will appreciate your efforts for a long time. As our team provided both a wiki and a duplicate Springboard! site, it should be easy for Dr. Beese to be able to share the resources with future teachers. Despite the positive feedback, with only two user evaluations to consider, it is hard to determine the efficacy of the wiki and its resources. The responses were positive except that one of the respondents could not reap the full benefits because she did not have a SMART Board in her classroom. Both respondents indicated that they would use the wiki in the future. If anything, the main changes would simply be to 1) add more resources to the wiki to maximize its usefulness and 2) provide more support through face-to-face or synchronous interaction.