Week 9

Article Review

I found this article to be very interesting not only because we are learning about the new literacies in this class, but we are blogging as a class as well. This was a great method of conducting research which proved to answer the questions it set out to seek. However, I was not that surprised by the results found throughout the research. For instance, the research found out that the use of blogs did not improve or seem to have an advantage to the students’ reading performances.

However, I was very surprised at a couple of the results found within the research. The retention rate was a very high percentage throughout this process. I thought it was great that the results showed that even though the majors among students were diverse and that they were sharing information within blogs, the closer they became and were more willing to share personal information to each other using social media, etc.

I was also surprised to find that when reading this article, it said that the research showed that the instructors that were teaching the classes have had training with the integration of technology inside their classroom, but they still were teaching the way that they were before the training. Is this a glimpse into what is happening to schools around the country or even the world? Schools give professional workshops to teachers for them to provide the new styles of teaching that they have learned about in the workshop. However, it seems that the teachers are not putting in the time and effort to try out this new style of teaching and just stay with what they are familiar with. Does anyone else see this occurring? And if so, do you think that this trend will end anytime in the near future?

Draft of Keystone Project

1. Subject: ELA with the use of www.starfall.com
2. Grade level: 3 in a self-contained classroom
3. Standards addressed: Common Core ELA or related, and ISTE technology standards

ELA COMMON CORE STANDARDS:

1. 3.RL.1 – ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text at the basis.
2. 3.RL.3 – Describe characters in a story.
3. 3.RIT.1 – ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis.
4. 3.RIT.7 – Use information gained from illustrations and the words in a text to demonstrate understanding of the text.
5. 3.W.6 – With guidance and support from adults, use technology to produce and publish writing as well as to interact and collaborate with others.

ISTE TECHNOLOGY STANDARDS

1.	Creativity and Innovation
	Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology. Students:
	a. apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes. b. create original works as a means of personal or group expression. c. use models and simulations to explore complex systems and issues. d. identify trends and forecast possibilities.

4. Intended results of the proposed technology integration:

 For the teacher to become familiar with the starfall website and show how it can be used in everyday ELA teaching through reinforcement and engagement throughout the activities.

For the students to engage in the integration of technology and language arts to learn through the participation of a computer program.

5. Support and format of training needed for the effective implementation of the selected technology in their classrooms:

Each student must have their own computer with internet access throughout the activity.

6. Requirements: Computer Lab with Internet access for each student.
7. Evaluation plan (what is your plan to make sure that your training meets the goals, needs, and objectives):

My plan to make sure that the training provided meets the goals, needs and objective of the teachers and students is to first show the teachers how to navigate and use the Starfall website. Through this website, I will lead them to the section, It’s Fun To Read, which will then show the All About Me part of the website.

The students must create an avatar to complete this part of the objective. Throughout the creation, the students are asked a series of questions that they must answer, each pertaining to a certain part of their avatar. The questions are as follows:
                Are you a boy or girl?

                How old are you?

                What does your hair look like?

What color is your hair?

What color is your skin?

What do your eyes look like?

Throughout the questions, the students are fulfilling the standards listed above in the common core curriculum. After the students create their avatar, they will have to create a pet with certain characteristics that the students choose themselves given from a list. For example, a student can have a pet dinosaur, that skateboards, eats pizza, that chases a chicken. While all of these choices are being made, the students are engaged with the animations that appear by each choice that they make. This makes the students want to read the question to see what comes next, enhancing their ELA skills.

After each phase of the All About Me section is completed, another game appears. The next one is called, Where Do I Sleep? Followed by Which is My Toy. All throughout these activities, the students still see their custom made avatar along with their custom made pet throughout the activities. This makes the students want to keep going and read each question carefully and want to keep participating in the activity. When they have completed the activity on their own, they will then practice using their social skills and tell a friend and the teacher about their avatar, pet, bed and toy. I hope that I get to see some amazing results and to see the students have fun throughout the process of using the Starfall website.