RSA: virtual field trips

Virtual Field Trips

Bringing "out there" into the classroom

        Field trips are an excellent opportunity for students to learn in a unique environment. Students are able to completely immerse themselves in their environment, using the sights and sounds to build on what they have learned in the classroom. Shrinking school budgets could spell an end to these wonderful learning opportunities for our students, but it doesn't have to. Meyer (2016) explains that virtual field trips allow students to visit far away places and interact with experts in real time without ever leaving the classroom.
        Discovery Education offers virtual field trip packages such as a look at president Lincoln's assassination, exploring the Holocaust through a trip to Auschwitz, or a trip under the ocean. Each of these virtual field trips also includes prepared materials and classroom activities. Another option for virtual field trips is provided through Google Expeditions. This is a more affordable option that still provides 3D field trips using cardboard headsets powered by a smartphone. Another manufacturer of virtual field trip experiences is NASA with their NASA's Eyes computer simulations which provide students with a field trip experience that would otherwise be completely out of their reach. The last option that the article addressed is to construct your own virtual field trip. Although this option would be the most labor intensive for teachers, it would also allow teachers to truly connect the virtual field trip experience with their district's curriculum, their classroom activities, and even to the individual students.

        I have been at the same school for eight years which has given me a unique view of how much our school and district have changed. For the first seven years, each class was provided with a budget that permitted two field trips. With shrinking budgets and increased cost of the field trips, we were only allowed to go on one field trip last year and we have the same budget for this year. The more I learn about virtual field trips, the more I think this may be a feasible option for schools in the future. I will be the first to support the importance of providing our students with field trip experiences. Nothing can take the place of supporting what has been taught in class with a field trip. My students love their animal unit and are completely engaged with every lesson I can throw their way. However, the real learning comes only after our field trip to the zoo. Seeing the animals move, developing an understanding of their true size, and getting to hear the animals provides my first graders with a depth of knowledge that I could never provide in the classroom. Upon return, each of my students can talk at length and in-depth about the characteristics of animals from each kingdom and provide support by accessing their personal experiences. The experience is truly powerful for them. However, from a first grade teacher's perspective, field trips are the absolute worst (second only to parent-teacher conferences). The stress of keeping track of 28 first graders (and some of their parents), organizing the trip, the bone-jarring bus ride, the cost, and so many other factors literally keep me up for several nights leading up to the trip.
        On the other hand, the cost of a set of virtual reality goggles and the equipment that goes along with it costs around $10,000! Yikes! I can't imagine trying to get that purchase past a school board or budget committee...Unless you take into the account that it's $500-$1,000 just for the cost of transportation and admission for a class of 30 students. You could also make the argument that the students safety is not a factor when it comes to virtual field trips as it is on a traditional field trip. Students not only get to fully immerse themselves in their virtual trips, but they can also visit places that are completely impossible to reach on a traditional field trip such as places on the other side of the Earth, inside the human body, or a journey into the farthest reaches of our solar system. I, for one, wouldn't mind it a bit if I never had to take another hour long, ear-splitting, headache-causing, spine-shrinking bus ride.

In closing, consider this...we have 11 first grade classes in our district. If it costs around $500 for each field trip we take (and that's a low estimate) and each class takes two field trips, it costs about $11,000 for our field trips each year. A Google Excursions kit of 30 sets of goggles, a teacher tablet, charging station, and subscription costs just under $10,000.

Meyer, L. (2016). Students explore the Earth and beyond with virtual field trips. T H E Journal, 43(3), 22-25.

RSA: Revamping Tech PD

RSA: Revamping Professional Development for Technology Integration and Fluency

        In her article Revamping Professional Development for Technology Integration and Fluency Sandra Plair calls for improvements to the professional development available to teachers for technology integration. Despite writing the journal almost ten years ago, many of the same concerns that she voiced are still shared by teachers today. Many times the pressure to incorporate technology in education brings about rapid adoption of the newest technology tools in districts where teachers have no experience effectively using the tools for instruction. Teachers either don't understand how the new technology fits into their existing curriculum or they don't see the implementation of these devices and programs as part of their content responsibilities. Unfortunately, the problems worsen when only short periods of training (which are much more sales pitch than training) are provided for teachers with little to no continued support afterward. Plair points out that many teachers leave these trainings not knowing how to bring what they have learned into their classroom, not understanding how to begin using the new technology tools, or discontinue use of the technology tool when problems arise and they have no support for how to trouble shoot.
        Technology directors are overwhelmed with questions and are unable to provide support to each teacher or are unable to provide support specifically for each teacher's class or content area needs. The answer, Plair suggested, could come in the form of technology "knowledge brokers" or technology coaches who would be able to serve as an intermediary between technology directors and classroom teachers. In order for Plair's vision to work, these technology coaches must be allowed to keep up on current technology trends by reading current literature and by attending seminars. These technology coaches also have to be available to address technology questions, there when teachers are initially implementing tech-heavy lessons, and available in a timely manner when problems arise.

        After reading this article, I felt like many of my past concerns with professional development had been validated. Too many times, new programs or technology devices are shoved at use with little or no training. If training is provided for new technology, continued support is hardly ever successfully provided. In the past, our in-school technology teacher served as a coach. Even with his vast knowledge of what technological tools are available for educational uses and how to use the technology, he had a very hard time explaining how to implement the technology in my classroom or how to fit it into our current curriculum. With a shrinking budget, we no longer have a technology teacher for each school. In fact, our technology teacher is spread between three elementary schools which makes our teachers' in-class technology questions difficult to address. I'm truly hoping that after completing our MAET program, I will be able to partially satisfy the role of a technology coach for my grade level team. By having a general understanding of how to use the technological tools in an elementary setting and a good understanding of our content area information, I may be able to better support elementary teachers successfully integrate the technology into their current teaching practices. 

Plair, S. K. (2008). Revamping Professional Development for Technology Integration and Fluency. Clearing House, 82(2), 70-74.

overhead projector infographic

https://magic.piktochart.com/output/23378342-overhead-projector-infographic

RSA: Tech in the Classroom - Yesterday & Today

Technology in the Classroom - Questions From Yesteryear Persist Today

    d          Although the article Power Point, Technology and the Web: More Than Just an Overhead Projector for the New Century was written in 2003 and focused on technology that has since become nearly obsolete, many of the questions, issues and uses of technology discussed in the article are still viable today. The article was written by a college level history professor who was obviously an advocate for the use of technology in the classroom both by the professor and by the students. Although clearly an advocate of technology use in the classroom, DenBeste warned that the use of technology in the classroom must be purposeful, meaningful and useful for both the teacher and student. DenBeste warned that many types of classroom technology (specifically Power Point presentations) can be very time consuming to employ. He also discussed the issue of student access to technology and explained that many students did not have personal computers or access to Internet in order to easily use them for their own education. He also discussed the lack of familiarity with computers among some students in order to effectively use them for their education and expressed concerns about content area teachers being responsible for teaching how to use technology rather than their content areas. This issue is certainly still relevant today. 

                    After discussing the pitfalls of technology use in the classroom, DenBeste went on to explain some of the benefits. Being a history teacher, he was especially enamored with the use of online resources providing students with primary sources of information. He was very careful to explain that students had to be shown how to evaluate the accuracy and validity of these online resources. DenBeste went on to describe how Power Point could be used both by the teacher and students as a means to present information. Finally, discussion boards were discussed as a means for collaboration and discussion among students. DenBeste explained that these discussion boards allow students who were typically shy an unwilling to participate in in-class discussions a means to express themselves and contribute to class discussions without the discomfort of speaking in front of their peers. He explained that these discussion boards provide a sense of community and interconnectedness among class members. 

                      As I read this fourteen year-old article, I was shocked with how little the issues concerning technology use in the classroom have changed. Power Point, a new program at the time, is still commonly used (along with programs like Google Slides and Prezi) and has changed very little. Although there are several new programs and devices, it seems to me that the underlying questions of how and why the technology is being used in the classroom are still extremely important and should be considered before implementation in our classrooms. It seems that sometimes the pressure to use technology in the classroom results in meaningless tech use that doesn't result in improved student learning. I was also intrigued with the concern that DenBeste expressed with having inequity among students in regards to access to technology. Although this issue has less of an impact today than it did in 2003, the difference in access to technology from school to school and student to student is still struggled with today. The familiarity with technology is also something that was mentioned in this article and is still pertinent today as well. An issue that is rarely discussed in this area is who does it fall on to provide our students with direct instruction on how to use technology such as programs and devices? It seems that although the use of technology is becoming much more commonplace in education today, careful thought and planning to make technology use in the classroom meaningful and purposeful is still as important today as it was in the past.   

                   

DenBeste, M. (2003). Power Point, Technology and the Web: More Than Just an Overhead Projector for the New
          Century?. History Teacher, 36(4), 491-504.