Inspiration, Observation, Reflection, Experiences, Connections, and Dilemmas from the Lens of three ID Models: SITE, ISD, and ARCS SITE Model--Contextual Learning Experiences The SITE model is an instructional design (ID) model that offers a learner centered framework for creating and implementing contextualized learning experiences. It takes into account socio-cultural, informational, and the technical subcontexts of the learner in the design of instruction to create a learning experience that maximizes the chances that the learner will be able to obtain and use the intended knowledge. Problem of Traditional Instructional Designs--Inert Knowledge The idea behind the brilliance of using the SITE model is to address issues of traditional ID such as the problem of “inert knowledge”. Alfred North Whitehead coined “inert knowledge” and is used to refer to knowledge that does not come to mind when it would be appropriate or useful. In traditional ID, the learning experiences tend to be designed in a manner in which knowledge (concepts, principles, and theories) do not get applied in life circumstances because knowledge transfer across a broad range of domains or contexts are very difficult for humans according to cognitive psychologists. It is much more difficult than applying the knowledge in situations that are similar to the context that the knowledge was first acquired. It does not mean that the person does not “know” the information, but rather they cannot connect this information to a situation for where it might be used. This is the problem experienced by thousands of teachers, including myself and is the focus of my research study. Students can obtain knowledge and can apply it but do not know when or why they might use it regarding unfamiliar situations which essentially means that what the students have just learned is information stored in their brains that goes unused and wasted. Hence, the SITE model advocates for Functional Context Education (FCE) and performance-oriented learning in which learning is situated in a context in which learners will apply those skills ensuring that skills can be utilized outside of the classroom. Problems Traditional ID--No Transfer of Learning So, how do we foster the transfer of learning to other situations and contexts? That solution to that question remains to be seen. This is the exact dilemma that my research study aims to address. My driving question explored the connection between critical thinking and standardized test performance but embedded in that question are two subquestions that aim to address whether teaching metacognition or metacognitive thinking skills in a systematic way can foster procedural fluency or a transfer of knowledge to different contexts as well as produce autonomous learners. Hence, the SITE model combined with Clark’s ISD model as well as the ARCS model might offer a viable solution in answering how one might design instruction that promotes the transfer of learning. Combining Three Instructional Designs--ISD, SITE, & ARCS Applying Clark’s ISD model, the first step seems to be assessing the needs of the learner and using that to define what will be taught—the task. The first step should also include the “S-socio-cultural subcontext” from the SITE model and the “A-attention” and “R-relevance” from the ARCS model to assess socio-cultural subcontexts of the learner to aid us in understanding the factors that motivate the learner to invest in the learning process and designing instruction that will grab and hold the learner’s attention. Without some relevance to the learner’s goals and motives, it is unlikely that they will invest themselves deeply in the learning. Applying the ISD model, the “I-informational subcontext” and “T-technical subcontext” from the SITE model, the second step would be analyzing the task to determine the content of the instruction by identifying information and skills required by the task, subtracting students’ prior knowledge. This step will require the instructor to take the mindset of the novice or the mindset of their learners to determine what supports need to be embedded in order for them to gain the information and skills. In this step, the instructor should also define the learning objective and assessment that will be used to evaluate the performance outcomes to evaluate the success of the ID as well as the instructional methods, techniques, and media that will be used to during instruction. Last, applying the ISD model, the “C-confidence” and “S-satisfaction from the ARCS model, one should pilot the instructional design and make revisions before implementation or classroom instruction. Class instruction should help develop a positive expectation (confidence) for successful achievement by clearly outlining the requirements, providing various challenging experiences or practice exercises that create satisfaction through extrinsic and intrinsic reinforcement for effort, and offering personal control and feedback such as verbal praise, incentives, and constructive comments based on criteria that is supported by instructional media (i.e. displays, workbook, video, etc.). Reflections and Connections--Applications to My Research I believe that these three ID models work together to provide me the best method of designing my instruction for knowledge transfer. Relevance and motivation will ensure student interest and the building of strong schema and hopefully automatization of knowledge by providing opportunities for varied practice of knowledge in different contexts. If the information knowledge is obtained in a familiar situation or context, it is more likely that the learners will be able to recall the information and be able to apply it. Allowing students to practice the skills, concepts, or procedures will lead to concept mastery and exposure to different contexts will create flexible thinking and allow students to see applications of that knowledge to different settings. Procedures are not learned best by rote but through application which is why designing instruction as well as learning objectives that create ample opportunities for practicing these procedures are so important. In chapter 3 "How to Teach Procedures", Clark discusses the ways in which procedures are best learned. She advocates for follow-along demonstrations and exercises that require the learner to perform the procedure supported by memory support such as information displays of the needed steps. One type of information display is an action and decision table. However, Clark continually emphasizes follow-up demonstrations or explicit direct instruction which many educational research studies I came across also support the conclusion that it is a good way of teaching procedures. The “E-education” in the SITE model requires us to develop broader perspectives and understandings amidst the fairly specific goals and techniques in order to develop a whole person and enrich a whole society. At the end of the article on the SITE model, there is increased emphasis on learning to learn or creating learners who are autodidacts—people who learn without the benefit of a teacher. This resonated with me because as I mentioned previously, my research goal is also to explore how to help my students become more autonomous learners which connects to my interest in developing CBE (personalized learning) and a digital concept mastery based assessment tool or system that allows students to track their progress, develop their learning goals, and learn independently with limited teacher support. It is important to remember that there is only one of me and thirty-six of them so utilizing digital tools to empower students to learn independently should be explored as a viable solution.
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First and foremost, I would like to say that I have very little experience with social media and have honestly tried to actively stay away from it. There are a few reasons for why I have tried to stay away from social media and these are the same reasons why social media is such a powerful tool for developing, collaborating, and communicating in a professional or personal capacity. Social media can be used for good or evil. That being said, it is not just our youth that need to be educated so that they can become proper digital citizens, I would say that many adults out there also desperately need to be taught how to use technology appropriately and responsibly. There is a great need for people all over the worldwide to understand that what one says and does can have a greater impact on themselves and others than they could have imagined. Stupid and inappropriate posts are not limited to our youth so although we need to prepare our students to be responsible digital citizens, we also need to make them aware that they will also definitely encounter people who will abuse technology (peers and adults) and that it does not allow them to follow suit just because others are doing it. Be Aware of Dangers and Protect Yourself First, the internet is neither good nor bad. It is in the way a user chooses to utilize it that determines whether the internet can have a positive or negative impact in the world. The internet is a place that offers up many benefits. It allows us to reach, share with, and connect to exponentially more people than ever before—globally. It offers up anonymity that allows users and creators to be freer, more expressive and more honest in their interactions and activities online as opposed to other settings that can make people feel more oppressed or judged. The internet allows for access to new knowledge, exploration, and tools that help better lives as well as entertain us. However, there are two sides to a coin. The internet can also be used to hurt others. Just like how the internet affords us the luxury of anonymity, freedom of expression, and the ability to connect to many others, it can also allow for things such as cyber bullying precisely because people can say what they would like to whomever they choose. Cyber bullying has become a common occurrence across the world resulting in many tragedies. I myself have personally experienced this phenomenon (bullying and negativity) and precisely the reason why I do not participate in social media. I know myself well. I know that I am a sensitive person and that I dislike critique. I also know that strangers can be judgmental and harsh and although people can be blocked, sometimes it is already too late to stop the effects of that ONE negative comment. So is it the responsibility of educators and parents to teach our kids to be cautious in this digital world and to help them develop thicker skin to the harsh world around us? I personally have no clue. My Personal Experience with Social Media My experience with social media has mainly been with Facebook because it was a platform in which I could use to connect and network with friends, family, classmates, and colleagues. As one of the first universities to participate in Facebook back in 2004 and as a freshman in college, it was imperative to have an account. This was the main mode for finding a classmate, scheduling study groups, discussing about class and homework, joining social circles and events, and connecting with friends and colleagues. With the expansion of Facebook, this came to include family and even employers. As a student, that was what I was using social media for. So what about as a professional—how should social media be used to develop, collaborate, and communicate with others? Ways in Which Social Media Should be Used by Professionals As a professional, social media should be used to develop, collaborate, and communicate products and information that help us better ourselves, others, and the world at large (blogs, e-portfolios, digital resumes, video tutorials, presentations, movies, training videos, artwork, and so on). I found that the top 15 most popular social networking sites include Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Reddit, Twitter, Pinterest, Flickr, LinkedIn, ClassMates, Tumblr, and Google+ just to list a few. These social networking sites provide opportunities to create and share with people all around the world which can range from any of the products and information listed above and then some. Social media is a powerful and effective tool for starting a two-way conversation (both reaching out and receiving feedback from others such as to students, parents, colleagues, customers, etc.). It would be a failure on our parts if we did not utilize such a tool to our advantage. We often hear, “two heads are better than one.” Professionals should use social media to collaborate with brilliant minds (experts) all over the world who share the same passion as them for which they would normally not have the luxury of working with. For example, Facebook, Skype, and other social media allow us the opportunity to communicate with people from all over the world (video chat, texts, file sharing, etc.) which help us obtain more insight and learn new cultures and even new languages. Through social media, we are able to communicate, get feedback (assessments in an academic setting and surveys in a corporate setting), share ideas, improve ideas, and so much more. Social media allows for real-time immediate information and feedback. Furthermore, professionals could even use social media to advertise products, build their reputation, get customer feedback, and connect with clients. Social media can even be used as a tool for learning--synchronous and asynchronous online courses--that require students (both young and adult) to complete assignments such as writing a blog or creating a video. It offers students access to information using various types of media besides pen and paper. Professional development is also possible through social media with access to videos and assessment tools. These tools should not go to waste. Critical Issues to Consider When Using Social Media As mentioned above, with social media and using the web in general, there are always pitfalls to watch out for. Some critical issues to consider are the health and safety of each user. We need to be responsible digital citizens who are aware of the dangers of technology. That means being aware of all nine components of a digital citizen: access, commerce, communication, literacy, etiquette, law, rights & responsibilities, health & wellness, and security (self-protection). In order to use social media, one needs to become literate—understanding how the technology should be used. One also needs to understand that each community has its own etiquette or rules of conduct as well as how to communicate and be respectful. One also needs to understand the laws, rights, responsibilities, and security surrounding social media so that the individual knows what information is appropriate to share for the safety of themselves and others. For example, someone might post an artwork that they created without watermarking it and it gets stolen and claimed by someone else. Someone might unknowingly share sensitive information from work online and get them into trouble. In conclusion, professional or not, we all need to be knowledgeable digital citizens who are able to safely and responsibly navigate the internet. How to Deal with Inappropriate Social Media Posts If I were to come across an inappropriate post made by one of my students outside of the school, I would first screenshot it or get hard evidence of it before it can be deleted or otherwise. Second, depending on the content and severity of the post, I would inform the parents, the school administrators, and relevant parties (parents of other students involved, police, etc.) so they can have a conversation or “teachable moment” with the student or take other proper action, especially if it involves the safety of other people. For example, someone posting a picture of themself with a weapon and threatening to shoot up a school or a specific group of people would not just warrant a stern talking to in private. I would probably involve parents and administrator who would determine if the police needed to be involved. Posting a risqué picture (i.e. very skimpy outfit with exposure of cleavage and too much visible buttocks) or a culturally insensitive post might warrant a private discussion with the student and then a class discussion to review the rules of digital citizenship. If it is a case of cyber bullying or sexting, I would inform the parents of all parties and administration and defer to them on what steps should be taken. Considerations for deciding what to do ultimately should be reliant on school policies, codes, and laws. If worse comes to worse and there is uncertainty, always turn to administration. Dual Audience and Initial Ideas for Facing the Challenges of Creating a Resource to Influence Others and Share Your Knowledge
For the remaining two semesters, I would ideally like to address my students as my audience but summer does not lend us that opportunity and the Fall semester will bring new minds to our classroom in which we do not have great knowledge of just yet. Since my whole mindset as a teacher is to support the learning of my students to the best of my ability, of course I want to create a model for teaching content that is directed at and can positively influence my students. However, that is not to say that I am not also excited and nervous at the same time to address my fellow colleagues, to create a resource to influence them, and share my knowledge and research findings. Mostly, it is just that I have never liked classroom observations and evaluations because I feel like I am on display and being judged (positively or negatively) so certainly thinking about presenting our capstone project to my colleagues is a bit nerve-racking. For example, I found my research topic to be quite interesting because it was relevant to my content area, I learned some effective strategies I would like to further implement and research, and it has contributed to improving my students quality of learning but as Dervin and Baggio would say, perception is individualistic, subjective, and unique (and unpredictable) so it is also very likely that others may not see the value in it exactly the same way I do even though all of the people in our cohort are awesome and understanding. I think the expectation or anticipation is to have others awe-struck by your ingenious of what you have produced but I also need to be realistic. So I will say my audience is a dual audience. Moving on, having seen six other research presentations, I have seen a lot of overlap in our studies on critical thinking skills (metacognition). Also, many of the readings in this course such as Dervin, Baggio, and Clark have discussed many of the content that was in my study. If my capstone project can give them more insight into their own study or provides valuable information that supports our current class reading material and is applicable to their teaching, that would be fantastic. My initial idea so far for where I might want to go in creating a resource to share is to come up with an instructional design that incorporates 21st century technology (asynchronous online activities and lessons), supports personal learning (Competence-Based Education), and addresses a vital 21st century skill that all students need--improving critical thinking skills. I am hoping to apply the reading from Clark to create a systematic and well-structured instruction design that is well-thought out and incorporates what Baggio describes are characteristics of well-designed visual images taking into account my learner's internal and external sense of vision (attention, perception, visualization, and imagination), prior knowledge, context, expectations, and what Baggio refers to as the "Trilogy of the Mind" (affective, cognitive, and conative). Finally, I am hoping to apply Dervin's sense-making interview models in creating various instructional materials that will provide teachers the most helpful information in order to personalize learning for our students. To address the challenges of creating such a resource, I will probably do a lot of online research (visit many websites, read a lot of articles, watch a lot of videos, discuss with colleagues, and talk to many of the more knowledgeable others or MKO's). In conclusion, I am content now with the simple fact that I have a somewhat clear goal which may very well change in the future. Remind--The App That Connects a Learning Community
Remind is a useful mobile app that allows teachers to communicate with other teachers, parents and students. There are various uses for this app but the most popular one as you could probably guess is to remind students and parents of upcoming events and due dates. There are several pros and some cons. A list is provided below. Pros:
As evidenced from above, the number of pros outweigh the cons and the uses are varied. The learning curve is not steep. It was pretty simple to get up to speed on how to use the tool proficiently. Tinkering, pressing buttons, and exploring is all you need. I consider myself to be a fast learner and so it took me less than an hour to learn it but for people who may not be as adept, I still say it would take less than a day to learn it. Personally, I was introduced to it this year as a way to connect with the chaperones of our 8th grade field trip and with our students to remind them of our meet up time. I just wanted a way to reach my students immediately but not have to give out my personal phone number. I tinkered with it and liked that I could send mass, group, or individual text messages and see when each student read or did not read the message. The only irritating aspect was that some students would send silly texts or their handle did not identify who they were but if cautioned beforehand, I do not see it being a big problem. I like the possibilities that come with the app. I can definitely see it being used as a way to gather formative assessment data in a mathematics class. It is difficult to type out mathematical problem steps because of odd mathematics symbols as well as the formatting of how numbers and manipulations of numbers are displayed. With the remind app, students can solve a problem on paper, take a quick picture and send it through remind quickly to the teacher. This allows for formative assessment of ALL students rather than calling on individual students. This is a great way to inform whole instruction and personalize learning (apply CBE) based on the assessment data of small groups or individuals. This app is pretty straight forward and can be used for many different purposes so I think it accomplished what I needed it to do. How do I know? My students showed up at the meeting place during our 8th grade field trip and all read and responded to my text message. I had a couple of students message to make sure of the time and meeting place and I gave them prompt feedback. It was a smooth process. In conclusion, I suggest trying this app out if you need to communicate with your students and be able to receive instant responses and feedback for various purposes. The Age of Digital Natives--Theory Proves to be Unreliable
Across all content areas, most educators are feeling the pressure from the dreaded pacing guide. We already have a jam-packed curriculum and in some content areas, an even more ridiculous and unrealistic amount of standards that theoretically students should gain concept mastery of--which means students should have an understanding of it, can apply it, and can even teach it to a peer. In the mathematics content area, 1-2 days are set aside for each new concept that pertain to a larger standard. It is difficult to really say how much mastery a student can obtain in that time frame. This year the students from my accelerated class undeniably murdered the standards in which all students scored 1000+ on their Mathematics Inventory (MI) assessment with most people scoring between 1100-1300 and the highest at 1560. 27 of the 28 students scored proficient and above while only one scored at the cusp of basic and proficient. These students were in accelerated math in the prior year and were exposed to most of the standards. However we know that this is not the norm and one way educators seek to level the playing field is to incorporate instructional strategies that leverage learning. This is where digital tools come in. Digital tools are not miracle workers in itself. Simply utilizing tech tools will not give us the results we desire. It is in how we strategically use the tools to help our students grasp an understanding and even deepen their understanding of these concepts that bring about improvement and change. The kids in this new generation are frequently referred to as "digital natives" and with that label, there are many presumptions. More than ever I have realized that we cannot rely on the theory of digital natives and assume that they have the digital literacy necessary to utilize the wealth of tech tools at their disposal. For example, this year all my classes were utilizing google sheets to input statistical data they gathered for their stats project. In working with small groups, I realized that most of them did not know what "text wrapping" was and did not know how to add, delete, format rows and columns. I had to step by step, teach them these commands. Moreover, these students are pretty proficient at google slides and yet many did not know how to screen shot, crop, or insert images that were saved to their "download" folder. Most did not know where or how to access their "download" folder. This begs the question, how do we teach the much needed digital literacy to our students when we can barely cover the required standards every year? This is a difficult question that has no one set answer. In my classroom, I already have several goals in mind involving digital citizenship and digital literacy for the beginning of the year. Digital citizenship and digital literacy will be treated like any other necessary classroom norms/routines that are as important as regular content standards. As educators often say, we need to go slow to go fast and I am a firm believer that these skills are just as if not more important the standards embedded in the CCSS-M. The first two weeks of school will be dedicated to relationship building and ice breakers, introducing and practicing classroom norms, and learning about digital citizenship that are all student centered. I will likely adapt some or most of the digital citizenship/communication lesson plan created for the prior class session in order to teach digital citizenship/communication. I really want my students to come up with their own thoughts and rationales so that they can own the learning. I think that student generated norms for classroom routines and digital citizenship will produce much better results. More specifically, students will likely remember them better or develop better "schema" and be more willing to follow them. Within my research of critical thinking and metacognition and their relationship with memory, I came across several research studies about how to strong schemas are constructed. Several students claim that when students discuss their experiences and connect those personal stories to new schema such as the norms they might create surrounding digital citizenship and communication, it is better stored in their brains and once this information is automatized it is stored in their long term memory. In terms of digital literacy, I think explicit instruction is the best way to teach such skills using the, "I do, we do, you do" model. Give them separate independent tasks to complete that require them to use the skills that they have just learned and maybe make it slightly more difficult than the ones that were modeled so that it provokes questions, collaborative discussion, problem solving, and exploration. I think digital literacy lessons can be embedded regularly into the curriculum that requires the use of the skill or as stand alone mini lessons so my students will have multiple opportunities to practice and master the skill. The math content area already takes time out to teach socio-emotional learning program called Second Step so I am sure these lessons can be squeezed in somewhere since they are now considered basic skills necessary for success now and in the future. I think I will first work on gauging their proficiency of the google apps (slides, doc, sheets, forms, etc.) and seeing where they struggle the most. As we progress through the curriculum and work on projects that require different digital tools, we will engage in mini lessons. I think this will allow students to see the relevance and need to learn these skills as it will help them complete their project and will reduce cognitive overload if too many concepts and skills are taught all at once. They are less likely to retain the information. For example, one lesson might have them practice creating a slide and adding an image or cropping something. Another lesson might have them sharing a document, peer editing/commenting, and discussing what is appropriate digital communication. There are many many more digital literacy topics to cover which will not be listed now. However, using the suggestions from the last session, I think it would be fantastic having the students screencast their process of properly using digital tools and use them as a tutorial. Now that I am more knowledgeable about tech tools, it is less scary and daunting to be expected to teach these skills and to teach digital literacy. When I really reflect on it, the process of acquiring that knowledge only involved my willingness to take time to learn it (and overcome my laziness of course). I believe that if every teacher, across all content area banded together to incorporate teaching digital literacy to our students, it would minimize the amount of time each teacher would have to dedicate instructional/learning time which in turn would preserve the rigorous pacing guide. I think it is a very doable feat! Personalizing the Learning of Digital Citizenship for Students
Knowledge of digital citizenship has become even more essential to successfully functioning in society as we continue to progress into the 21st century. Our digital footprint can “make us or break us” as many employers and institutions are placing an increasing value on reputation. We see it in recent news like the incidence in which 10 students had their acceptance letters rescinded by Harvard University because of the disgusting and unethical posts they created on Facebook. We also see positive examples like the one in which a candidate gains an upper hand during the hiring process because their digital footprint was more professional and cleaner than the other candidates. There are also plenty of instances in which teens and tweens are exchanging inappropriate text messages such as “sexting” which although deleted never disappears for too long. Digital footprints can help us or haunt us. Taking into account that our middle school students are still developing their frontal lobe, in the midst of developing their identity, and establishing their bearings, it is even more important that educators provide positive guidance so that they are informed as they are tasked with making various decisions that may impact them in the far future, positively or negatively. Digital citizenship like any other content being taught needs to be culturally relevant to students to engage them. Mountains of literature support the fact that students who are motivated, learn better. Some ways to make learning digital citizenship personal for students is by sharing personal experiences. In the lesson plan I created, I ask my students to share anonymously (or not) using Padlet, what kinds of digital communication they engage in, for what purpose, and the positive and negative personal experiences they have had with it. I think this kind of discussion helps students own the learning, engages them, and allows them to connect it to their life as well as be more empathetic about the topic. Anyone can stand in the front of the class and present a lecture about how important digital citizenship is and how digital communication can be beneficial and dangerous. Having the students arrive at the conclusion themselves is much more effective. Second, I ask the students to collaborate in groups of 2-3 to investigate real life different case studies/scenarios in which they might discuss the benefits and dangers of digital communication and the consequences that ensued. This kind of activity allows students to think critically and thoughtfully about the kinds of lasting harm that can be inflicted upon themselves and others. Constructivism can really play a part in personalizing the learning as students discuss amongst themselves, brainstorm, and again really own their learning. Lastly, I ask students to further collaborate and compile a list of student-made norms for promoting positive digital communication as well as a positive presence in the digital community. I ask them to sign a pledge to follow the norms so that they can become ethical digital citizens. Allowing the students to come up with their own rules personalizes the learning and they are more likely to remember and follow them. I do not want to be the enforcer or imposer who pushes their views onto the students. I think this approach allows students to see the rationale for the need of such norms as they reflect on the experiences and case studies of the previous discussions. The students arrive at the conclusion themselves which makes the learning that much more powerful. Sense-Making--Discontinuity, Gap-Defining, Gap-Bridging, and the Sense-Making Triangle
In figuring out the Dervin article, my approach was to highlight key words and phrases, reread each subsection and summarize before moving on to the next sections. I also discussed and explained what I read to other people, which forced me to summarize the content in my own words and helped me think through, make sense, and understand the content more deeply. In making sense of the article, I found that Dervin first established the background and problem regarding information and information systems and ways in which it was lacking then introduces how sense-making could be utilized to gather data that was more beneficial for predicting behavior and improving information systems. She established a line of thinking to demonstrate why sense-making as a method for framing interviews, gathering data, and analyzing data was necessary—existence of discontinuity, the individual behavior as chaotic, and the need for the gap idea as a way to frame interviews. She showed how no person is ever able to understand a situation in its entirety because people are subjective creatures who construct their own understanding of each situation which means it is futile to try to establish behavior patterns of people based on characteristics because individuals and their thinking are more complex than one characteristic. Two people of the same demographic will not necessarily bridge a gap in the same way so characteristics do not necessarily have a bearing on predicting behavior information. She then deduced how an individual’s behavior pattern could be better analyzed using the gap idea in which the way in which an individual constructs a situation, how they bridge that gap and deal with the situation to overcome it is more repetitious and telling of that individual’s inclinations. Using the gap idea as a questioning technique and data collection provided more helpful feedback and data than the traditional observer-based interview questions. Observer-based interview questions ask questions about how much the individual likes the information or information system but does not explain why they do not use the system. In conclusion, observer-based interviews are lacking in many ways in gathering meaningful information. I think Dervin’s goal in the article was to teach a process for research data collection—meaningful data. She introduced various ways sense-making can be used to frame interviews to gather the type of information for various research purposes: time-line interview, information need, satisfaction, image, help-chain, and message/q-ing. She provided six exemplars that demonstrated how the data gathered through using sense-making approaches was much more meaningful and useful than traditional interview methods. In order to teach this same reading content to high school students, I think other media like an info-graphic or video clip might be helpful to break the dense content into mind-sized chunks for easier processing. The language is very academic and almost science-like so I think frontloading might be helpful. Blogs simplifying and summarizing the content might also make it easier to process. I am a visual learner so seeing images and a simplified line of thinking works best for me. I personally felt like she explained some concepts in a very convoluted way which could have been simplified and still retained all its original meaning. Detailed Summary of Dervin’s Qualitative Research in Information Management: Sense-making can be defined as a methodological guidance for framing research questions, collecting data, and for data analyses. It is a set of methods for studying human behavior, particularly human information-using behavior. It is also a method for interviewing humans about their experiences. Dervin makes the point on emphasizing the existence of discontinuity between all entities. Hence, information and observations that are gathered and deemed “accurate” are really just subjective constructions by human actors. Dervin goes on to say that the tools in which humans use to assess truth is not based on an external standard but rather a constructed standard created in interaction. Although absolute truth and an objective reality exists, Dervin claims that it cannot be obtained by humans who live in a discontinuous world and “is not directly accessible by human observers whose observations are constrained by time, space, and species as well as personal capabilities” (p. 63). Information and observations are constructed by the human actor who views it from their own lens however, it is not to say that there are no tools with which a more comprehensive and stable picture of reality can be obtained. Dervin also adds that the sharing of information creates a more stable observation although always limited, similar to finding the missing pieces of a puzzle that functions to complete the larger picture. Information and information systems are generally designed from an observer’s perspective, not the user’s perspective and implies that the user should bend to the system rather than the other way around. The information system actually reveals nothing about the user or the utility of the system from the user’s perspective and in some instances cannot make a distinction between success and failure. In short, the information system designs are flawed and do not ask questions that provide helpful information for improvement of the system to truly serve the users. Information research based on state assumptions attempts to predict and explain human use of information and systems based on across-time-space example, topical contexts, or across-time-space characteristics which are expected to explain behavior but actually explain very little. Demographics, personality, skills, resources explain very little about human behavior. The conclusion is that the individual behavior is too chaotic to expect much from systematic study and yields limited results and therefore human information may be better understood using process assumptions instead. Dervin goes on to discuss how “gap-defining” and “gap-bridging” may offer order to the individual behavior that was previously described as chaotic. Individuals define and attempt to bridge discontinuities or gaps in response to situational conditions using information and information systems from past situations or newly created tactics in response to a situation. The gap-defining and gap-bridging can be seen as ordered. Essentially, based on the different gaps that an individual faces at any specific moment in time-space, specific tactics are used. Hence, it is possible to systematically analyze and predict the behavior of the individual based on this gap idea. This gap idea is thus used as a guiding frame for methods of framing questions, interviewing, and analysis. Sense-making is the approach to studying the constructing that humans do to make sense of their experiences. When an individual comes up against a situation or gap, they must somehow bridge the gap and proceed with their journey—each of these moments is potentially a sense-making moment. A metaphor used to describe the sense-making triangle is called the situation-gap-help/use. Sense-making provides a theory of how to conduct interviews and an example of such an interview is called the micro-moment time-line interview where a respondent is asked to reconstruct a situation and describe each step in detail. The description involves the actor’s perspective of the situation, the gap, and the desired help in order to cross the bridge to where they wanted to be. There are three additional types of studies involving sense-making: information need, satisfaction, and images. Depending on the purpose of the research, sense-making is focused on different elements. In terms of information need, emphasis is on the individual’s construction of self as stopped and the process they used to arrive at answers. Studies of satisfaction focus on barriers and the help actors sought to get around the barrier. Satisfaction studies also focus on the actor’s worst, best, most memorable, etc. use of the institution. Image studies examine the actor’s most recent memory of the institution and the ideas the actor saw as a result. In conclusion, it is difficult to fully grasp the reality of a particular situation since we construct reality through our own lens in a moment in time-space. Gaining more information can help complete a puzzle that has missing pieces and give us a more comprehensive picture of the situation. Well-used information and information systems are not designed to provide helpful data on human behavior nor feedback on how to better serve users/actors. The questions focus on the observer rather than the actor which provide answers that are less than helpful. Current studies focus on demographics and other characteristics that do little to explain human behavior. Individuality is more chaotic and hard to pin down. Hence, characteristics like ethnicity do very little to predict the behavior of an individual. However, how someone responds to discontinuities or gaps is more telling than ethnicity. Each individual constructs their reality and reacts to situations using predictable tactics they have used in the past. These gap-defining or gap-bridging experiences are better at providing helpful data. Sense-making provides interview methods that utilize the gap idea to gain helpful data on human behavior and how they make sense of situations. How can educational technology support competency-based learning (and personalized learning)?
Competency-based education is definitely what many teachers are striving for, a learner centered classroom that is student driven. Goals are co-determined between teacher and student and students are able to self-regulate and gain ownership of their learning. As mentioned in the article, there is no way a teacher can create a personalized lesson for each and every student 30+ for each period of every day. Although I was unaware of the terminology, for the past three years, this is what I have been working towards in my 8th grade math classes. Every year I tell myself I need to come up with operating procedures for collaborative group work and other routines in order to create a positive classroom culture and more autonomous learners. It has been a struggle trying to have small groups and workshops to personalize learning because standard procedures have not been mastered so that is my first goal. As all educators are quite aware of, with 30+ students each class, it is impossible for educators to give each and every individual student the attention they need and deserve daily. So, what else can teachers do to support competency-based learning if they cannot create a personalized lesson for each individual and cannot spend an extended amount of time working with them? One way is by introducing educational technology. As evidenced in different case studies dealing with technology in the classroom, we have learned that technology can be used to differentiate learning for the individual—providing intervention for the struggling or aid in deepening content understanding for advanced learners. Educational technology allows students to work at their current level and work towards content mastery. Students can use tools like ALEKS, Khan Academy to build their skills or even watch teacher-made tutorial videos to practice their skills while other students explore desmos.com or use other tech tools to deepen their understanding of a concept. Tech tools or programs like ALEKS and Khan Academy can help a student track their own progress to see where they are and where they need to grow. Teachers can also look at the data with the student and co-determine goals. In summary, educational technology can aid all students so that they can achieve a higher performance level no matter what current level the students are at. Moreover, for the generation that responds better to technology, using technology can stimulate student interest and engagement. We need to teach students in the way that they learn best, and if that means utilizing technology in the classroom, that is what teachers should work towards. Some issues for me is the fact that the technology needs to be strategically utilized in the classroom. Learning the same traditional mathematics, whether on paper or online, will not produce different results just because all of a sudden the students are doing it on a digital screen. I think the tech tools need to have certain elements that grab students' interest. The learning needs to feel like a game. It needs to satisfy student curiosity and be interesting as well as challenging within reason. Watching video tutorials on Khan Academy over and over will probably not motivate students and cannot always provide the necessary feedback students need. I think students need to develop self-regulation techniques as well as positive dispositions towards mathematics (or any other content area) in order for personal learning to be realistic. For many students, math is their least favorite subject and often times, teachers are so focused on getting through standards and objectives, it is hard to incorporate time to develop necessary skills like self-regulation and collaborative group work. Every day or every other day, new concepts are being taught so time can be a huge barrier. If students are somehow able to get access to technology at school and at home and they are utilizing effective tech tools, personalized learning is definitely possible. |
Nai Saelee
Middle school math teacher preparing the leaders of the future. Inspiring curiosity, creativity, collaboration Archives
December 2017
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