Melody Lam -- Blog Post #3 -- 1/30/2020

Reflection on Existing Technology Integration Strategies

In my computer science course, I used a lot of directed learning strategies to get students to learn the material that needed to be covered in the unit. For example, I used YouTube videos to show students concrete examples of how programming structures applied to real-world problems, such as managing a classroom of students. The videos were helpful because students that were absent or needed reinforcement could watch the videos at their own pace to learn the material. For skill fluency, I used CodingBat problems, which were designed to be just like batting practice -- practicing a skill over and over again with different problems in order to increase student confidence. What was nice about CodingBat was that it was an online tool that gave students immediate feedback on the material as they were trying out the problems and they could see how they needed to modify the program in order to incorporate all possible test cases for the program.

On the constructivist side of things, the AP Computer Science Principles Create task was a good example of an activity where students were expected to solve a novel problem through programming. While some of the ideas, such as Hangman, or Tic-Tac-Toe have been created many, many times by others, I considered them to be novel problems if the student had never solved it before. The task was almost often done with another student; students worked together to create portions of the program which then were submitted as part of the AP exam. Students learned how to collaborate towards a shared goal but also exhibited individualism in how they attacked a problem. Students also gave feedback on each other's programs in order to work out bugs or to improve their program before submission. A short essay describing their program and aspects of their program accompanied their submission. In this task, students learned how to work together in a small group, and also learned how to use multiple ways to express their learning (through the program itself, a video with the program running, and the essay that accompanied the program).

In my computer science courses, I encourage digital citizenship. Citations are required for any images, code snippets, or quotes that were not created by the student; otherwise the student recieves a 0 and an honor code violation for plagarism. Students also learn the pros and cons of having a digital presence online, especially when it comes to global issues such as facial recognition, government surveillance, and privacy.

Instructional Strategies That I Would Love to Try:

As a technology facilitator, I am expected to support my staff in integrating technology in the classroom. I have barely any experience leading a professional development session, but when I do, I would love to facilitate a session on tools that can replace expensive tools or services that we currently use in the classroom. For example, Scantrons take up a significant chunk of the budget. Even though most classes have moved to online testing through Canvas or Schoolnet, AP teachers frequently use paper testing in order to make sure that students are drilled and are used to a timed paper/pencil exam. Scantron machines break down and are constantly in use by other teachers. In my AP Computer Science classes, I used a tool called Zipgrade that allows teachers to have a multiple choice exam but be able to scan and give student feedback almost immediately -- it's very similar to GradeCam if you have used that before. Teachers scan papers using a mobile device and results are immediately uploaded to the cloud. Not only that, it automatically generates statistics and item analysis in order for teachers to quickly see what students have accomplished. This PD would most be aligned towards social activism theory and discovery learning where the PD would be more hands on to show the value of the tool in the classroom.

Another instructional strategy that I would like to try is using Flipgrid to have students explain their learning (as an exit ticket or maybe as a way to see a concept differently). This fits within the multiple intelligences theory, as it allows students a different way to show how they learned a particular concept. In fact, for students that may have been struggling with a concept, hearing the concept expressed in a different way can help a student finally bridge the gap from not understanding a concept to concept mastery. This also promotes the social coginitive theory, where students see other students modeling behavior through the Flipgrid assignment and can increase student achievement through an increase in confidence.