PART D - Findings and Implications

Formative:  I think that my project was implemented as well as it could have been under the circumstances that I do not have a teaching job and have never had a teaching job.  I created a wikispace that I shared with world language teachers and my friends who went to school to be world language teachers. On the wikispace, I created individual pages for each resource. On each page there was a description of the resources, ways that it can be used in the world language classroom, an example of the resource being used and a start-up sheet. The start-up sheet was a “how to” use the resource for any content area teacher. I then created a survey that gave me feedback about the specific tools in regards to their friendliness as well as teachers’ opinions about language acquisition and the resources on the wikispace. I hopefully addressed a problem that I know many world language teachers face. I hope that I was able to give ideas for teachers to give more opportunities in safe environments for their students to speak in.

Summative: The survey helped me to get the opinions of the teachers. In regards to the resources, the teachers ranked Lingt Language, VoiceThread, Audio Dropbox and Conversations to be the most student-friendly. I agree with these rankings. The students do not have to email anything or send it like they would in resources like Vocaroo, everything goes to the teacher through the tool. The teachers ranked Conversation, Audio Dropbox, Lingt Language and VoiceThread the most teacher-friendly resources. I definitely agree because while I think VoiceThread is a good resource, it can be difficult for some to create a presentation. Tools like Voki and Blabberize do not allow the teacher to come up with too many creative ideas that are very rigorous. All of the participatnts would definitely use some of the resources in the classroom and they would also share the wikispace with their colleagues. All of the teachers agreed that the start-up sheets helped, which is something that gives me gratification because I may not be there to help teach them the resource, but I was able to help them to understand it better. 

It was also gratifying to see that the teachers agreed that the resource would increase oral proficiency and that the resources would help to extend the language use outside of the classroom. The teachers strongly agreed that the resources would help make students more comfortable speaking in the target language, better assess oral proficiency, monitor student growth and increase the rigor of the class. In regards to students, it is very important to me that they feel comfortable speaking in the target language. Not all classroom environment are "safe" and many teachers can be discouraging. After being a very comfortable speak in high school and the beginning of college, I had a professor like this and I eventually stopped speaking in class. I think it is something that many students struggle with, especially trying to speak in a near native accent. It was important that the teachers could assess oral competency, monitor student growth as well as increase oral proficiency.  

I am glad that I asked this question and I was surprised to see that the description of the resource was the most helpful component, followed by how to use the resource and then the start-up sheets and examples earned the same ranking. I know that I learn best by giving a description of the activity, what is expected and then seeing an example of it. I am sure that the description helped because the teachers were able to see what the resource was about briefly and then it intrigued them. They were probably more interested once they saw the ways to use it and then the start-up sheets and example helped to tie everything together. 

I think that if I were to complete the project again, I would try to figure out a project that would be more conducive to not having a job. I am not sure how realistic this is, so I would want to be more focused and specific with my project from the beginning. I think that my project did not gain specificity until Part C and I was not able to explain everything as clear as I would have liked to, especially in Part B.

I think that trying to help teachers was the best route for me since I do not have students to work with so if I were put into the same situation in my current situation, I would have done the same thing. I would want to address my problem and solution completely at teachers of not necessarily one content area. I would like to find a problem that many different content teachers have and figure out a solution that would help more teachers.

I think that there were many lessons learned. I think that the more specific and concrete you can be in your vision for the project and the steps along the way, the better the project will turn out. I think that I was able to find a variety or resources that shared some similarities, but I do not think that seven was too overwhelming of a number. I think that it was better to find fewer resources and go more in depth with them than finding many resources and being too brief. If I had 20 resources, I would be very overwhelmed as a teacher looking at them, especially if I wasn't familiar with any. The teachers were able to get a feel and understanding for the resources because of the examples, description, ways it can be implemented and the start-up sheets. I know that teachers do not have all the time in the world and they would not be able to sit down and look at 20 tools with all of the supplemental resources and be able to make sense of it all.

PART C - Implementation

Transcript of My Podcast: 

I first researched tools that could increase oral proficiency by giving students more opportunities to speak outside of the classroom. I wanted to try to re-create opportunities that would allow for the teacher to access the assignment and tools that would save the assignment so the teacher could review it and the student could reflect on it. During my research I found that the following tools would be suitable for the solution to my problem: VoiceThread, Lingt Language, Audio Dropbox, Conversations, Voki, Blabberize and Vocaroo 

I then decided that to implement my WPP, I would create a wikispace that would house all of the information about the resources. I shared the wikispace with world language teachers and friends who went to school to be a world language teacher. For each resource I wrote a brief description about the resources, gave some ideas on how world language teachers could use the resource in their classroom, created a start-up sheet which was a “how to use the resource” ,

(Screenshot of Start-Up Sheet)

gave an example, if it was possible, about how to use the resource in the world language classroom and gave links to any other helpful resources about the tool, if I found it suitable. I thought that creating a wikispace was a good idea because it would allow me to have a good foundation of tools to share and would give me a starting point to add more tools. 

(Screenshot of VoiceThread page on Wikispace)

I then created a survey on surveymonkey .I asked 10 questions about the wikispace, tools that I found and opinions of the components of language acquisition. I was very surprised to see that all 7 participants strongly agree that speaking was the weakest component of language acquisition  and 6/7 deemed it as the most important component.

There were also a few more surprises. It was difficult at times to create start-up sheets for all of the tools because tools like VoiceThread have many different components. I tried to create start-up sheets that would allow any content area teacher to be able to use the resource.  

There were also some things that I would revise.  While I thought that the survey was a good idea to get feedback and have the teachers rate the tools on their friendliness, I think that it would be beneficial to also have teachers fill out a google doc about their likes and dislikes in regards to specific tools. I would also ask them how they would use the tools in their classroom so I would be able to acquire more ideas. If a teacher had a strong opinion about a tool or a lot of experience with a tool, I would be made aware of it through the use of a google doc.

While I would revise this part of my Wicked Problem Project, I do think that there were some things that went well.  I think that creating a wikispace was a good idea. The wikispace helped me to better organize the information for myself as well as the teachers. It allowed the teachers to easily navigate through the pages and it is compatible with embedding, adding links and pictures.  The wikispace allowed me to better organize the information for myself as well as the teachers. The teachers knew what to expect: a description, ways to use the tool in the world language classroom, an example (if applicable and possible) and a start-up sheet that teaches the basics about how to use the resource for any teacher.

I think that the project would have been better for me if I had a teaching job and my own classroom. While it was good to be exposed to and to learn about many resources that I could share, I think I would have benefited more if I could have seen some of these tools to put into action with students. I would also be able to experiment with the resources with my colleagues and share the sources with them. It would have been more meaningful to implement the resources with actual students and see how it helped their confidence in the target language as well as oral proficiency. 

Link to podcast: https://www.msu.edu/~slifersa/partcwpp.mp3

Link to wikispace: http://senoritatecnologia.wikispaces.com/

Link to survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/L35QVD3

Recording and Editing Lab

To implement my project, I created a wikispace that housed information about the resources that I used as well as start-up sheets. I then shared the wikispace with my friends who went to school to be language teachers as well as language teachers that I knew. I then had the teachers take a survey. This is the link to my podcast:  https://www.msu.edu/~slifersa/implementation.mp3

I had trouble in session 1 to have my podcast come up on my itunes. I subscribed and tried all the tips that my professor gave me and I was still not able to hear my podcasts. For some reason information from 2 random blog posts come up.  I am not sure why this is happening. 

I also have my feedburner in my blog to enhance to RSS feed. The screen shot shows that it is my feedburner. 

Part B - Storyboard and Script

Our group has been working together very well and progressing nicely. Our topic is flipping the classroom and we chose to complete a tutorial about using WatchKnowLearn.org. We have each completed our individual research portions of the project and we created our Popplet.  Heidi worked on the Common Core and Classroom, Jamin did the Introduction, How to Add a Video and the Vision/ Conclusion and I worked on the Editors Tools and How to Review, Approve and Assign Videos to Appropriate Categories. Below is a snapshot of our Popplet that we created. 

We chose to use Google Docs to create our script. We were about to create an outline that includes what we would like Jamin to say when she records the audio narration. The Google Doc is a work and progress, but it is done for the most part and we just need to finish our final individual editing. This is the link to our Google Doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HsWh4yPYhdSIAsaBHHIjQGgwoacD6QglyP1svBtqkmA/edit. Below is a screen shot of the script for one of my portions of the project. 

Originally we decided that each of us would record our individual parts. We realized that this would be a lot harder than we thought. We weren’t sure how we would merge all of the Jing videos together. We decided that it would be easier and flow better if one person recoreded the entire presentation. We broke up the last part into individual sections. Heidi did the final edit of the Popplet/script and was able to color coordinate the Popplet so it looks a lot nicer. I am responsible for creating the presentation. I will be creating it using Prezi and my due date is December 1^st.  Jamin will record over the Prezi, using Jing, and will record the entire presentation. 

Data Visualization Lab

I really enjoyed browsing and looking at the resources on Karl Gude’s wikispace.  This is definitely a website that is worth bookmarking because I know that it will continue to grow! I thought that it was set up really nice and was organized well by specific categories. It was nice that he was able to make such specific categories and give some of the capabilities many of the tools. I was able to look at sharing tools such as Cincopa, Portfolio tools such as Wix and Dropmocks and other tools such as Celtx, Dipity and Tagxedo. It was good to be able to explore more sharing tools because we are currently sharing everything on the internet with the push of a button. I also liked to be able to explore different portfolio tools because there was a group in my 811 class that did their presentation about online portfolios. I especially liked Wix because I felt that there were many templates for students to use so they did not have to spend time editing the colors and fonts on their portfolio, but were still able to keep part of themselves on the site. I thought that Celtx was a great website for creating storyboard and being able to create scripts and edit them. The site was very information and provided a lot of background about the use of the tool, its “story” as well an embedded feed of people who tweet about them. I think that it is more appealing because it has cloud features. I also liked Taxgedo. I have seen Wordle used before in a few classrooms for things such as a vocabulary wall or the names of all the students, but I have not seen Tagxedo before or heard of it.  I thought it was really cool that you would be able to put your world cloud on items such as t-shirts and mugs. Many of the tools that he had on the lab were ones that I have used or seen before such as Prezi, Glogster, Jing, Flickr and Picasa.  It was comforting to see that there were many tools and apps on the Wikispace that we have talked about in the certificate classes because this allows me to see that the content and tools that we are learning about is relevant since I do not have my own classroom.

For the lab I created a visualization using Dipity. I created a timeline for the main events of the Spanish War of Independence. This is something that is relevant to my content area because it is the war that gave Spain its independence from Napoleon and the French and it is depicted in many paintings by Spanish artists such as Goya.  

I wish that I would have had known about this when I was student teaching! I created a timeline for the 6^th grade students in relation of the ancient civilizations that we learned about in our Spanish with the ones they were learning about in their World Cultures class. This really helped the students to compare the time periods and it helped them to see the overlaps in the empires. I really liked how you are about to add things such as photos and because it was help the students to better visualize the events.  I think that this is a fantastic tool for creating timelines. When I think of timelines, I am easily bored and I think of really old pictures in a textbook. My ah-ha moment was when I was able to create a meaningful connection between the growing up online reading and digital nation videos and Dipity. We need to cater to our students and the way that they are currently learning. When I saw the teacher drawing the triangle on the board and the students being bored, it reminded me of looking at boring timelines in history textbooks. The interactive timelines allow the students to become more engaged with the material and the supplemental things such as pictures, videos and documents. 
Here is the link to my timeline: http://www.dipity.com/sslifer/Spanish-War-of-Independence/?s=t

PART B - Application of TPACK

TPACK was inspired by Lee Shulman's TPACK. MSU's Punya Mishra and Matthew Koehler added the technology component to create a more meaningful learning experience. For a successful TPACK (Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge) framework, an understanding of content and creativity is necessary. The teachers are the designers of technology, content and pedagogy. For this portion of the Wicked Problem Plan I will apply the framework of TPACK to the solution for my problem.

In terms of the Technology and Pedagogy, the resources that I have chosen are supportive in a teaching environment. Many of the resources can create authentic, personalized speaking moments for students as well conversations. In tools such as VoiceThread, Conversations 2.0 and Lingt Language, conversation between teacher and student can be simulated. In VoiceThread, conversation can occur between teacher and student as well as student and student. The technology also allows the users to be interactive. Students who use Voki are able to record multiple characters with multiple voices. In VoiceThread users are able to comment on each other’s responses and ideas.

In terms of Technology and Content, these resources make the problem more intellectually accessible. These tools are easily accessible. VoiceThread and Blabberize have applications that students can download for free on their smartphone. Students can also call in responses on VoiceThread. The students will be able to increase the rigor by speaking outside of class and increase amount they are speaking. They are able to increase their oral proficiency and fluency by speaking more in the target language in meaningful environments. By using a wikispace and creating start-up sheets, the teachers are able to access all the materials. Eventually I will be able to model how to use the tool when I create tutorials with Jing after the course is over.

In terms of Pedagogy and Content, the resources allow the students to access higher order thinking skills. Students are able to be creative with some of the resources such as Voki and Blabberize. The students are able to create short films in Voki and are able to “speak” through the pictures on Blabberize. They are able to analyze and evaluate how to respond in resources such as Lingt Language, VoiceThread and Conversations 2.0. In Lingt Language the teacher can input videos, mp3 files, pictures, voice narration and text. The teacher can make it so the students answer in text or voice narration. In VoiceThread the teacher can have the students respond to the presentation or they could have them respond based on their classmates’ responses. In Conversations the teacher can ask the student questions and the students are able to give personalized responses based on the questions.

Overall, I think that my solution to my WPP is suitable for the TPACK framework. 

PART A - Brainstorm Session

For our group leadership project I am working with Heidi Embury and Jamin Jones. Our group specialty is flipping the classroom. We have decided that our technology tool iswatchknowlearn.org. WatchKnowLearn is a website that houses videos or tutorials, lessons and classroom flips. The videos are organized by content area, grade levels (based on common core standards) and classrooms (different groups of professionals). You are also able to search for videos based on the age of your target student. WatchKnowLearn is very user-friendly, navigable and organized.

In our adobe connect session we were able to vote on our presentation tool, mindmap tool and script tool. It was an unanimous decision that we would use Jing as our presentation tool, Poplet as our mindmap tool and GoogleDocs as our script too. We have all used Jing before and enjoy using it. We have also used GoogleDocs and it is a very group-friendly collaborative tool. Jamin and I have not used Poplet, but I am looking forward to being able to learn more about it as a technology tool. We were able to assign out roles as well. I am completing the Editor's Tools, and "How to review, approve, and assign the videos to appropriate categories", Heidi is working on Common Core and Classrooms and Jamin is taking care of Intro, Conclusion & "How to add a video". We also worked on our timeline and have been working on the project since our meeting. Our group is meeting again on Monday November 19th. We would like to have everything finished so we can record and not have to worry about the project post-Thanksgiving. We did not go over how we will do the presentation and if everyone will talk. While I think that it would be more meaningful if everyone presented their portion, I think it may be more difficult and may not come out as clean and clear as it would if one person presented. If we create our script it really should not matter who presents. 

I really liked using adobe connect in this meeting. It was very realistic because Heidi was able to put an agenda in the sidenotes as well as insert polls. We were able to vote on our presentation tool, mindmap tool and script tool. We were also able to use the webcam feature to see everyone. I was struggling a bit because I could see myself but then I realized that had to hit preview for them to see me (embarrassing). The disadvantages of using this tool were that I was having trouble hearing my groupmates sometimes, especially while using google chrome as my browser. Sometimes the group was cutting in and out, but it all worked out in the end. 
This is the recording to our adobe connect session: http://meet30409137.adobeconnect.com/p65886f39kh/

Web-Conferencing

Our group held two web conference sessions. The first session we used google hangout. This was the first time that I used google hangout. I really like google hangout because it is really user friendly. Heidi was able to share her screen with us and show us the web-page we are using for our project. Google hangout can be useful in the world language classroom to meet with native speakers of  a Spanish-speaking country. The teacher could share screens with the other teacher and all of the students, in both classes, could reflect and comment, in the target language, on the same thing like an art piece. Teachers could also meet with other language teachers within your district and  students could use it to be able to connect with members of their group outside of class. Students could also connect with students in other classes who have Spanish at the same time as them. They could google hangout to connect and speak in the target language.

In the second session we used adobe connect. At first I was using google chrome as my web browser. I was having trouble connecting and hearing my groupmates so I switched to internet explorer. I do not think that adobe connect is compatible with google chrome because I could not listen to old sessions of adobe in google chrome. We were able to use the poll features to pick and vote on the different tools we will be using for our project. I think that adobe connect would be more user friendly to teach online classes because of all the features and you can have students answer questions to check for understanding. A teacher could use adobe connect in the classroom and use the poll feature to get feedback from students about a lecture. It could also be used in the classroom to present a powerpoint by sharing the screen and allowing students to use the chat feature to ask the teacher questions if they are confused. I also really like the note feature because the teacher could post a key concept to keep in mind during a lecture or activity. 

I would not do anything different for the next session. As a group, we have decided that we will use google hangout because we think it is more convenient. I really like being able to web conference with my groupmates because I am in PA and they are in MI. It allows me to have a more personal connect with the people that I am working with!

PART A - Description of Need or Opportunity

The problem that I am trying to solve for my WPP is a problem that many world language teachers face. World Teachers face the problem of oral proficiency in the target language and assessing oral competency. Students usually struggle the most with speaking because they are not always talking in the target language and they are conscious of speaking in the target language with an authentic accent. World language teachers do not have the time to give oral interviews to students for tests because there are so many students in a class. I would like to find resources to increase oral proficiency as well as tools that teachers can use to have students submit assignments orally. I would also like to find resources where students can keep these exercises so they are review student growth. 

I plan to find resources that are web-based and/or applications that help to increase oral proficiency of language learners and help teachers assess oral language skills. I believe that these resources will be beneficial not only for the teacher, but the students as well. Teachers will be able to better assess oral proficiency of students who do not always speak in class in a private matter, students will be able to speak in the target language in a safe environment and the teacher can monitor and evaluate student growth. Finding free and/or cheap apps that are user-friendly will allow teachers to extend language use outside of the classroom, increase the rigor of the course and increase language acquisition.

I have found some tools that are worth investigating during my research thus far. Some tools that I have found to increase oral proficiency VoiceThread, Lingt Language, Rich Internet Language Learning Resources from MSU such as Audio Dropbox and Conversations, Voki, Blabberize and Vocaroo All of these resources are free and there are applications for blabberize and VoiceThread. VoiceThread is a resource that is similar to a powerpoint, but allows users to comment via text, voice, webcam or through phone. This is a good resource because teachers and students can create conversation via the comments or students can answer a question that the teacher poses. Lingt Language is a resource that allows teachers to create online assignments that teachers can embed text, video, voice narration, mp3 files and photos into the assignment and students can respond in text or voice narration. This is a good resource because the assignment gets sent the teacher so it is a more comfortable environment for the students. Audio Dropbox is a resource that allows students to record themselves completing a task and the file gets sent to the teacher. This is also a safe environment and the information gets sent to the teacher right away. Conversations is a tool that allows the teacher to record themselves via voice narration or webcam and they can simulate a conversation with a student. The teacher speaks and then the student will speak. Once the student is finishing answering, the teacher will speak again. Once the assignment is complete, the student will be able to submit the assignment to the teacher. Voki is a resource that allows students to create “small productions” with avatars. Students record or type in the story line and can control the general movements of the characters. The students can then produce the movie and share it with their teacher. Blabberize is a tool where the students can record their voices over a picture and they can make the person or things lips move. This is a good tool because it is fun for the students and they are given creative control by picking the picture that they want to use. Vocaroo is a tool that students can use on their computer that allows them to record themselves and send it to their teacher. This is a widget that teachers can embed into their class site or blog.

One helpful link that I found was about research at Georgia State University:Assessing Student Oral Language Proficiency:Cost-Conscious Tools, Practices & Outcomes on the International Association of Language Learning Technology. The research included learners of Spanish and Japanese. The results indicate that close to half the students were more comfortable speaking in the setting. Students focused more on pronunciation as well as grammar and vocabulary. Over 2/3 ranked speaking as the most important component of language acquisition, which is why it is so important to increase oral fluency and proficiency.  

I currently do not have a full-time teaching job so I will not be able to implement this project to students in the classroom setting. Instead, I will be sharing the resources with friends that went to school to be a world language teacher (some are working and some are not), my cooperating teacher from student teaching as well as the instructional coach from the high school that I worked as a technology intern at. During the timeline of the project, I am planning on creating a wikispace to use as a resource for the teachers. I will create start-up sheets on how to use each of these tools. For the tools that you can create examples, I will create examples. I will write a description of the tool and how it can be used. To measure the success of the project, I will have teachers take a survery using survey monkey. After the project, I will look into creating presentations of me presenting the features of the resource and how to use it. I will also look into upload start-up sheets for other web 2.0 tools that I have found that are good resources for world language teachers as well as the tools that we used in our SIG project from 810. 

811 Final Reflection

As I am ending my 810 and 811 classes at Michigan State, it is an appropriate time to reflect upon my coursework and growth. This is my reflection specifically for my 811 class. These are some questions to think about:

1. What are some things that you have learned about effective teaching strategies when integrating technology? In session 6 we learned about online learning and session 7 we learned about face-to-face instructional strategies. In The Guidelines: Online Experience Document, I was able to learn about the many different types of online teaching strategies such as learning management systems, podcasting, electronic portfolio, etc. In the Online Experience Guideline, I was able to learn about specific resources for these strategies such as blackboard, moodle and wordpress. I only worked with wikispaces, wordpress and blackboard so it was nice to learn about many other resources and tools that I can use in my future classroom. Many professors say that students will be learning online in the near future and I know that some of my classmates teach online or in a blended classroom. By having class with them, I am able to learn more about their experiences and by reading their blogs. The guideline was also helpful because it said which kind of characteristics each strategy was such as collaborative. In session 7, the videos were very informative and it was nice to be able to learn about the different technologies for teaching strategies such as lectures, discussions, explaining and demonstrating. I was able to learn about more resources that I can use and explore when I have a classroom. These sessions were very helpful because it addressed all types of teaching situations that teachers will face. 
2. How did integrating web-based technologies help you think about and evaluate uses of technology?  In session 2 we learned about evaluating materials and we evaluated a material in MERLOT. I learned about to evaluate materials based on curriculum standards, technolog standards and information literacy standards. It is easiest, practical and we get the best evaluations by using standards because they never changed and are not biased. We also should evaluate the material/ resource based on the quality of content, potential effectiveness as a teaching-learning tool and ease of use. I believe that is the best if a teacher who is familiar with the content is evaluating it for quality and effectiveness. It was harder for me to evaluate a resource when I was not familiar with the content and an expert in the area. The best evaluations will come when the teacher is familiar with the content and will know its effectiveness. This will help out other teachers who are thinking about using the source. By integrating these web-based technologies, I was able to be more reflective and think more as a student and how these technologies and tools would help me learn. As teachers, we need to think about how it will help us to teach but more importantly, how it will help our students to learn. While I like things such as prezis, a wikispace may be more helpful for students because they are able to see and navigate through the information on their own. 
3. How have you met your own personal goals for learning about technology integration? I think that I have met my goals. I do not have the same goals as my classmates because I am not able to practice what I learn since I am not a full-time teacher. My goal was to be able to learn as much as I good about technologies and I learned a lot. I learned about MERLOT, rss feeders, different sites to create websites, wikis, filezilla, TPACK, online learning tools, assistive technology and so much more. I was able to learn more about web 2.0 tools which are one of my interests. 
4. Do you have any new goals? What are your plans for reaching your new goals and your long-term goals after this course is over? My new goals are to be able to update my portfolio on weebly so I can showcase my work and it will allow me to become more reflective. I am starting the 812 class until the end of this semester so hopefully I will have more work to contribute to my online portfolio. My long-term goal is to still get a full-time teaching job or atleast a long-term sub position. I am hoping that I can have my own classroom for the 2013-2014 school year. 

Overall, I was able to grow a lot this course. I was able to learn about MERLOT, which is a fantastic resource for teachers. I think that I was more inhibited to grow as much as my fellow classmates because I do not have my own classroom. It is frustrating at times because I am learned so much in my certificate classes, but I am not able to apply what I am learned and try it with students. I think that I would have grown more as a learner if I were able to experiment what I learned with a class of students as well as educate fellow teachers about the new things I learned about. I am eager to be able to get a full-time teacher job so I can employ these awesome tools and strategies. Hopefully I will become more marketable by having this knowledge and the ability to share it with others. Until then, I will have to continue to work hard to be the best student and hopeful teacher that I can be.