Reflections

Master of Science Education - Integrating Tech in the Classroom
The following is a reflection regarding topics covered in the course, Supporting Information Literacy and Online Inquiry in the Classroom (EDUC - 6712I - 4).

Describe the most striking revelation you had about the teaching of new literacy skills to your students as a result of this course.


Let me say at the outset that I teach physics to 17 and 18 year olds in a technical high school. In my class, approximately ¼ of my students are Information Technology (IT) students who are very computer literate. In fact, one element of their curriculum is WEB Page Design. Another quarter of my students are Industrial Design students and they use the P.C. for Computer Aided Design (CAD) and WEB based research and design. They are also very computer literate. I also teach Electronics students and carpentry students as well as auto mechanics.

Given the time restraints associated with my course and the fact that most of my students are computer literate, I did not introduce “New Literary Skills”. In fact, it seems to me that the students most likely to benefit from any new literary skills would be the middle school children.

Describe how the knowledge and experience gained in this course will influence your teaching practices going forward.

Early on in my masters program, I had decided that the best way I could serve my physics students was to develop a way to extend my tech high school’s abbreviated school year (90 days of academics as opposed to 180). At the same time, I had come to the realization that physics homework/home-study was a myth. In a home survey of parents, I discovered that virtually all of my students did little or no physics homework, using the age old excuse “…I just don’t get it”. Furthermore, it was not just my course, which is admittedly tough emphasizing both math and science, but virtually all high school courses received little or no home attention. When I asked parents if they thought “zero homework” was unusual, they said “yes” but they had been assured by their child that it had all been done in study hall or,…“….on the bus”, another myth. When I pressed the question with the parents, they usually agreed that this was probably not the case and their child was just ignoring homework.

Being an old R&D design engineer, I sought a solution based upon integrating technology into my course as much as possible.

Here were the problems as I saw them:

1. Based upon data acquired from a phone poll, parents said they would be willing to help their student but physics was “…over their head”.
2. Students having difficulty were unwilling to raise their hand with questions.
3. Students said that traditional physics word problems were intimidating and they would not even attempt them.
4. If a child missed class, they simply stopped trying to catch up.
5. Given my shortened school year, there was little time for re-teaching.
6. Because we are a regional school, students without transportation could not stay after school for extra help.
7. Inclusion within my classroom mixed high achievers with low achievers. Some were bored and others overwhelmed.
8. The benefit of traditional homework is in debate.

Since one problem involved so little class time, my first solution to eliminating this particular problem was extending the class time by creating the virtual classroom at home. The internet was the obvious choice. By bringing each lesson into the home, parents could listen to each lesson and help their student. Class notes could be reviewed and embellished as necessary and if a concept was tricky, the student could listen to the lesson as many times as necessary at whatever pace they chose until the theory was firmly embedded. If a student understood a particular lesson, they could go on to other lessons, thus eliminating some of the problems associated with higher achievers.

Parents were informed that traditional homework would no longer be given. Instead, each student was to review their notes taken in class, while listening to and viewing my “Home Tutorials”, as they came to be known. The following day I would review the quality of their notes and any questions the tutorials might have uncovered.

Since our school is a Data Driven Decision Making (DDDM) school, I started a telephone poll informing parents of the “Home Tutorials” and asking their opinion. Within weeks it became obvious that this new approach to home study was making a positive difference. In follow up polls since my home tutorial program began, I have actually had parents comment that they now understand concepts that they had missed back in high school. Furthermore, because of the home study initiative and the close parental contact, I have succeeded in clarifying the teacher, parent and student’s roll in education. A side benefit of the home tutorials that should not be underestimated. My students and parents know that I will do whatever it takes to place the tools of learning at their fingertips, but to ensure success, the parent/guardian and the student must also take some responsibility.

Identify at least one professional development goal you would like to pursue that builds upon your learning in this course and develops your own information literacy or technology skills. Describe the steps you will take to accomplish this goal.

Lastly, I am so confident that this new approach to home study works to improve student and parental involvement in the learning process, that I will make the data accumulated from my study available to the Connecticut Board of Education, in the hopes that it will become a district wide initiative. I will consider the ongoing improvement of my tutorials and the proliferation of the concept both my personal and professional goals.